CROSSING THE 'GREAT DIVIDE'

The Student Christian Movement and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellotvship

as Varieties of Canadian Protestantism

1928-1 939

D U N W. SCHMIDT

A thesis submitted to the Department of History

in confomity with the requirements for

the degree of Master of Arts

Queen's University

Kingston, Ontario, Canada

April, 1998

copyright Q Darren W. Schmidt, 1998

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AE3STRACT

Were Protestants in Canada separated into distinct groupings - either liberau

modernist or conservative/fundamentalist - in the early twentieth century, or were there

also areas of shared experience? While some good histoncal studies of these divergent

expressions exist, liale has been done to place them side by side or to recognize that they

operated in similar contexts. Frorn the historical literature the impression emerges that a

'great divide' ran through Canadian churches. This thesis compares liberal and

conservative Protestants in the decade preceding World War Two through the lenses of

two organizations, the Student Christian Movement (SCM) and Inter-Varsity Christian

Fellowship (IVCF). Beginning in 1 928-29, these organizations ofien shared space on

college and universiry carnpuses across Canada. To what extent, in this context, were

their beliefs and practices similar or divergent? Did these student groups represent two

Protestant extremes which had very little in common?

In order to address these questions, various aspects of the SCM and [VCF are

compared: ( 1 ) their self-definition, which is reflected in statements of belief and purpose

issued by leaders. the denominational backgrounds of mem bers, associations with O ther

individuals and groups, and the relationship between the two organizations; (2) their

religious life, as expressed in public devotional activities; and (3) the various evangelistic

activities in which students engaged in order to spread their convictions and to attract

new members.

A wealth of archival material reveals some key differences, but also some

cornmonalities. This evidence helps to elucidate the nature and extent of the divide

between liberal and conservative Protestants in the earlier part of the twentieth century.

~Moreover, a glimpse into the religious world of students, as seen through the histones of

the SCM and WCF. challenges the theory that Christianity was pushed to the finges of

unhrersity life by the social and intellectual changes in the late nineteenth and early

twentieth centunes. The thesis concludes that the SCM and ~ V C F (which continue to

hnction today) were in the 193Os, important exarnples of Protestant Chnstianity's ability

to express itself in new forms in order to maintain a vital presence on Canadian universir'

campuses.

ACI(IV0WLEDGEMENTS

I am increasingly aware of the extent to which a project of this nature is actually a

communal enterprise. Dr. David B. Marshall first suggested that an in-depth study of

student religious groups in Canada needed to be done. Dr. Marguerite Van Die has

provided escellent supervision and has directed me to a wealth of secondary iiterature.

James E. Bernes. the General Director of IVCF of Canada, and Catherine A. Gidney

likewise have offered vaiuable source material. Help was also provided by the staff of

the Queen's University Archives. My research trips to Toronto have been wonderfui

experiences, and have been enhanced by the cooperativeness and ffiendly assistance of

staff rnembers at the United ChurchArictoria University Archives, the University of

Toronto Archives. and the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship national office. On

numerous occasions in Toronto 1 have been overwhelmed by the warm hospitality of

Nada Vaughan and her farnily. My appreciation also extends to those individuals who

have shown keen interest in my research; frequent conversations have provided Further

motivation and fresh perspective. Many other fkiends have encouraged me with kind

words. Finally, my parents, Henry and Marion Schmidt, and my sister, Heather, although

in the past two years many miles distant, have given their unceasing love for which 1 am

deepiy grateful.

ABSTRACT.. .............................................................................................................

AC &IO WLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................

Chapter

1.

7 -. ILLUKING THE BOUNDARIES: SELF-DEFINITIONS OF THE STUDENT CHRZSTIAN hIOVEMENT AND INTER-VARSITY CHRlSTIAN FELLO WSHIP ............................................................ 20

... I I I

v

v i

LAYlNG THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION: STUDENT DEVOTIONAL PRACTlCES ................................................. 64

SAVNG SOULS OR SAVING THE SOCIAL ORDER? THE STUDENT EVANGELISTIC IMPULSE .........................,........ 83

.......................................................................................................... CONCLUSION 1 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 127

.......................................................................................................................... VITA 134

CKAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

What was the place of Christianity within Canadian colleges and universities

earlier in the hventieth century? Beginning in 1928-29, many campuses hosted at least

two religious organizations. The Student Christian Movement SC^!) already had existed

since 1920-2 1. when students had dscided to form a movement free from the more

tradi tional student departments of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian

Associations and the rnissionary-rninded Student Volunteer Movement. The SCM

cspoused a liberal Christianity dedicated to the study of the ethics of Jesus and the

application of his teachings to the irnprovement of the world social order. Eight years

later, students, with the assistance of British counterparts, organized Inter-Varsity

Christian Fellowship (IVCF). Its more traditional purpose was to draw students into a life

of personal Christian faith and evanpeiism. Both movements considered the contest of

Canadian higher rducation to be antagonistic to Christianity and both prornoted a

consemative morality ' But rather than joining forces against external pressures, IVCF and

the SCM saw their roles as unique and for the most part kept to themselves. Occasionally

memben of the two groups volleyed slanderous terrns at each other: IVCF was caricatured

as 'fundamentalist' and the SCM was labelled as 'modernist'.

The SCM and KCF u-ere by no means the fint Christian student movements in

Canada. Student-led revivals occurred in the nineteenth century, for exampie at Acadia

Collep in Wolfville. Nova Scotia in 1865.' A Christian Association existed at the

University of Toronto from at least 1873, and the first Canadian conference of Christian

students \vas held in 1879.'

This Christian student activity in Canada paralleled activity in other countries.

especially Britain and the United States. The 1870s saw the begimings of student

evangelistic enthusiasm at first Cambridge University and then Oxford. In 1877, the

sarne ?car that Cambridge formed a Christian Union. the first inter-colle@ate Christian

student movement was formed in Louisville, Kentucky by Young Men's Christian

Association (YMCA) delegates representing nventy-five c o l ~ e ~ e s . ~ The efforts of John R.

Mott and othrrs lsd to the formation of the Student Volunteer Movement ( svbr ) at

Northfield. ,Llassachusetts in 1 8 88. the development of national Christian student

movements around the world, and, in 1895. the linking o f ihese rnovements under the

umbrella of the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF).'

The histories of the SCM and IVCF are intricately intenvoven with this eariier

international Christian student activity. The Canadian SCM was an early member of the

WSCF and also sent delegates to SVM conferences in the United States. The Cambridge

Inter-Collrgiate Christian Union in 191 O was the first of a number of British student

' Paul Axelrod describes the KM'S efforts as g'reinforcing the moral order of the campus and serving as a conscrvative force." Paul Aselrod, Making a MiddIe Class: Studenr Lfe in English Canada diiring the Thirtiex (Montreal and Kingston: McGilt-Queen's University Press, 1990), t 8. ' George A. Raw l y k. fs Jesz1.s Your Personal Saviour? In Search of Canadion Evangelica fisnt in the 1 990s !Montreal and Kingston: McG ill-Queen's University Press, 1 996). 39-40. ' Pete Lowman, The Day of His Power: .4 Hisrory of rhe hernational Felloivship ufEvangefical S~udenrs (Leicester. England: inter-Varsity Press, 1953). 24. ' lbid., 17-15, 20-21.

groups to leave the increasingly liberal-minded British si. In 1925 these new grooupps

combined into the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Unions (known as IVEC or

simply NF)! The sarne year. Bntish students decided to send one of their mm. Howard

Guinness. to aid Canadian students in forming a similar movement. which would become

IVCF.

By the time IVCF emerged at the end of the 1920s, the had establishzd itself

across Canada. No comprehensive list of scxr units exists. but by 193 1 the SCM at the

Ieast was active at. in Ontario, the University of Toronto, the University of Western

Ontario (London). Ontario Agricultural College (Guelph), blchlaster University

(Toronto, later Hamilton), and Queen's University (Kingston): LlcGill University and

MacDonald College in Montreal; in Nova Scotia, Acadia (Wolf\-ille) and Dalhousie

(Halifâu) universities; in New Brunswick. Mount Allison University (Sackville) and the

University of New Brunswick (Fredericton); Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown.

Prince Edward Island; and, in western Canada, the University of .Manitoba and Brandon

College, the University of Saskatchewan and Regina College, the University of Alberta,

the University of British Columbia and Victoria College. .As u-el1 it had a unit at Mount

Royal College in Calgary at least by 1936 and could be found at a few other srnaller

colleges in Ontario and ~uebec . '

Organized as a national rnovement in early 1929. ~ V C F spread throughout Canada

dunng the late 1920s and the 1930s. It is evident that until 1933 IVCF was able to sustain

5 Ibid., 26-3 1. 6 Ibid., 36-37, 52. Today the British movement is known as the Universities and Colle, es Christian Fellowship (UCCF).

uni& only at the University of Toronto (the unit was founded in 1928), the University of

Western Ontario ( 1929), the University of Manitoba (1929), the University of British

Columbia ( 1 929). and McGill (1 930). A few officia1 units were added through the course

of the decade: Queen's University in 1933, the University of Alberta in 1934, Mount

Royal College in 1936, MacDonald College in 1937, Dalhousie University in 1938, and

the University of Saskatchewan and Victoria College in 1939. In addition. on a number

of carnpuses efforts were made to draw together like-minded students but did not result in

official WCF groups: these campuses included McMaster University, the Cniversity of

New Bmnswic k. .4cadia, Mount Allison, and Bishop's College in Lennosville, ~ u é b e c .' A cornparison of these lists reveals that the scbi and lVCF shared space on erery major

university campus in Canada and on many of the smaller college and university

campuses.

From today's vantage point, in the light of current media attention to. on the one

hand, the ongoing cntical discussion of the divinity of Jesus by liberal theologians and.

on the other hand. the apparent growth of conservative and hndamentalist Christianity in

North h e r i c a , a division within Protestantism in the 1930s does not look overly strange.

But for Protestants in the 19305, this division was new and, for many, disconcerting. Not

too many years previously the Protestant experience was iargely one of consensus and a

-- - - - -

' Compiled From scbr National Council minutes, lis% of student representatives and Iists of contributions in budgets, 1929-39, Student Christian ~Movement Papers, Inter-Church Collections, United Church of CanadaNictoria University Archives, Toronto [hereafier Scht UCA], box 84-94. S Compiled fiom Melvin V. DonaId, A Spreading Tree: A Hisrory of Inter-Varsiry Chrisriun Fellowshlp of Canada. /925-29 to 1988-89 (Richmond Hill, ON: Inter-Varsiry Christian Fellowship, 199 1 ). A Iist of groups associated with the Canadian IVCF is included in the British IVF'S history, Christ and the Colleges: rl History ofthe Inter- Varsi@ Fellowship ofEvangelica1 Unions, edited by F. Donald C o s a n (London: Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1934), 164, This list includes the University of Alberta goup, whtreas Donald's account places the inception of this group in early 1935. See Donald, Spreading Tree, 169- 170.

position of cultural prominence.9 But in the 1920s Protestantism internationally. and

especially so in the United States, was wacked by a number of public conflicts benveen

so-called fundamrntalists and modemists. Within this historical perspective, a number of

questions cmei-ge. What kvas the extent of the divide between liberals and consen~atives

in the Canadian Protestant church in the 193Os? Was the presence of two s ~ d e n t groups

on Canadian campuses proof of persistent fundamentalist-modemist tensions'?

Little resrarch has been done which bnngs together supposedly competitivr

Protestant branches: instead. historical studies of twentieth-century Protestantism oAen

have polarized to tsarnine one side or the other of the liberal-conservative spectrum.

Nonethrlrss this concentration has produced some important works. In their ground-

breaking studies on liberal Protestantism, Arnencan historians William R. Hutchison and

William McGuire King describr the movement as the willing accommodation of

Christian beliefs to modern ideas and as an expression of a Christian hope to estabiish

God's kingdom. This hopc rnanifested itself in a "reIigious enthusiasm for humanity"

and in the social gospel. a movement which aimed to bnng about change by applying the

teachings of Jcsus to current economic and social iife.I0 Hutchison further refines the

understanding of liberalism by distinguishing between modemists. whose framework was

modem science, and liberal evangelicals, whose frarnework was ~hristianity.' ' On the

' See especially William Westfall, Two Worfdrt The Protestanf Culture of Nineteenth-Centii~ Onrurio (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's Universiv Press, 1989) and Michael Gauvreau, The Evangelicaf C e n a r ~ : Coffege and Creed in English Canada from the Great Revivaf to the Great Depression (Montreal and Kingston: McGiil-Queen's University Press, 199 1). t O William McGuire King, "An Enthusiasm for Humanity: The Social Emphasis in Religion and its .4ccornmodation in Protestant Theology." in Religion and Twentieth-Cenmty Arnerican Inteffectiial Lfe, ed. Michael J. Lacey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; New York: the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1989), 53, and William R. Hutchison, The Modernist hnprrlse in .-fntericnn Protestantisni (Durham and London: Duke University Press, I992), 2-4. I I Hutchison, Modernist Impulse, 7.

other extreme. George LM. Marsden has done much to elucidate the nature of

fundamentalisrn in the United States. In his view, fundamentalists' belligerent opposition

to rnodernism was the key feature ivhich distinguished them from other consenrative

h Canada. scholars have focused their attention primaril~ on the nurnerically

dominant Protestant denominations - the Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans and

Baptists - generally referred to as the '-maidine churches." Historians have s h o m a

special interest in the rise of the socially concemed expressions of Protestantism. and

specifically in the formation of the United C hurch of Canada and the particulars and

timing of the secularization of Canadian society. Richard Allen analyzes the "social

gospel" in its heyday in the 19 1 Os and 1920s and argues that in the latter part of the 1970s

Protestants became more intrrested in abstract theological questions. traditional religion.

and personal religious esperience." Most recently, ivfichael Gauvreau and Xancv

Christie have argued that the ~Liethodist and Presbyterian denominations and the Cnited

Church which brought these denorninations together maintained an important position in

Canadian culture through the social teachings of evangelical Protestantism until at lsast

World War Two. They conclude that the evangelicalism of the nineteenth centup was in

fact much more enduring than some scholars wouid allow and that its social espression

was a positive movernent rather than a defensive attempt to cling to a position of cultural

" George M. Manden, Firndantenraiism and American Cidrirre: The Shaping of Twenrierh-Cenrtq. Evangelicafisrn, /870-/92j (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980). 4. 13 Richard Allen, The Social Passion: Religion and Social Reform in Conada. 1914-28 (Toronto: Universit). of Toronto Press, 197 1). 230, 300-20 1.

authority in the face of scientific, theological and societal challenges. " This

evangelicalism was %ed by two powerful strearns. inner piety and social evangelism."

which varied in intensity over time: in the 1920s Protestants focused more readily on

social sewice. and in the 1920s they tumed to the more private and pietistic eiements of

e~an~elicalisrn."

Consenrative Protestantism. on the other hand, is a relative newcomer to the field

of religious histon in Canada. John G. Stackhouse Jr.3 Canadian Eva.cgelicalism in ihe

Tirvniieth Cenruy has provided a good introduction to some of its features.16 Likewise

the voluminous efforts of George Rawlyk as a nriter and editor have given the fledgling

study of Canadian conservative Protestantism significant impetus." But historians in

14 Michael Gauvreau and Nancy Christie, in A Fzrll-Orbed Christianity: The Protestant Chrtrches and Social CVe$zre in Canacla. 1900-1940 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's Universiy Press, 1996) contest the conclusions of Ramsay Cook and David Marshall, who argue that the secularization of Canadian society occurred earlier in the twentieth cenniry and was brought about in part, although unintentionally. through the churchrs and clerg'. Cook, The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorran English Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985) and Marshall, Secularizing the Faith: Canadian Prorestant Clergy artd rhe Crisis ofBeliej,. 1850-1940 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1997). IS Gauvreau and Christie. Frrll-Orbed Christian@ introduction and p. 249. "Evangelicalism" is a thomy term to define. Essentially hue it is taken to refer to a nehvork of individuals and organizations which maintain a common set of emphases, namely the authority of the Bible, the need of conversion (putring one's faith in the atonins work of Christ for human sin), the importance of Christ's death and resurrection, and activism/evangeiism. For more in-depth analyses of evangelicalism's features. see David W. Bebbington. Evungelicalism 1t7 Modern Britain: .4 Histor),/rom the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989). 2-3; George M. Marsden, "Unity and Diversity in the Evangelical Resurgencc," in Alrrrrd Landscapes: Christianiry in An~erica, 1935-1985, ed. David W. Lotz et al. (Grand Rapids. MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989), 63; and John G. Stackhouse Ir., Canadian Evangelicalism in (he Twentieth Centzrr?,: .-in Introduction IO ils Characrer (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993). 7. EvangeIicalisrn has been described appropriately, by Timothy L. Smith, as a "kaleidoscope" which retains these key emphases but nonetheless changes its shape in different contexts. Marsden, "Unip and Diversity," 63. Thus evangelicals retain what they view as the essentials of traditional Christianity but they also interact with and are influenced by their culrural sunoundings. Joel A. Carpenter has most recently argued that instead of characterizhg evangelicalism "as a throwback, as a religion of consoIation for those who cannot accept the dominant humanist, modernist, liberai, and secular thrust of mainstream society, perhaps it is more accunte to see evangelicalisrn as a religious persuasion that has repeatedly adapted to the changing tone and rhythms of modernity." Joel A. Carpenter, Rwive Us Again: The Recnwkening of American Firndamentalisrn (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 234. 16 Stackhouse, Conodian Evangelicalism. 17 See especially Rawlyk, ed., .-lspecfs ofthe Canadian Evangelical Erperience (iMontreal and Kingston: McGi11-Queen's University Press, 1997); idem, ed., The Canadiun Protestunt Erperience 1 760 to 1990

Canada have generally made linle more than cursory remarks on what has been shared

and what has been disputed behveen liberals and consenratives in the twentieth crntury.

One is lefi with the impression that Protestantism in Canada \vas sharply divided.

In a short general sunrey, edited by George Rawlyk. historians have artempted to

port- Protestantisrn in its fuller sense. Phyllis D. Airhart points to differences of

theolog. region. class. and ethnicity which emerged in the latter dscades of the

nineteenth century and ei.entually served to fracture the Protestant consensus. S he also

notes. hoivever. that both sides accornmodated modem aspects - liberals accepted current

ideologies such as progressivism and conservatives employed modem technologies such

as radio to communicate their beliefs - and both retained the activism of the eariisr

I Y evangeiicaiism. In this same study the narrative is carried fonvard by Roben A. W'right.

who argues - that Canadian Protestants experienced fùndarnentalist-modemist tensions in

the 1920s but by the latter part of this decade reached some stability as the- realizrd that

the differing parties could coe~ i s t . ' ~ George Rawlyk, in 1s Jeszrs Y o w Persorml Smiour?

traces the îlow of evangelicalism within the broader stream of Protestantism from the latr

eighteenrh crntury ro the 1990s. In the late nineteenth century, he perceives, rvhen rnany

Protestant leaders such as clergymen-professors in the mainline institutions "drifted from

their evangelical moorings towards liberalism and beyond," the majonty of the "rank-

and-file" churchgoers retained conservative, evangelicai beliefs. Gradually, over the next

few decades. more and more Protestants chose to follow the path of their former leaders

- --

(Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990); and idem, Is Jesus Yozrr Personal Smiour? I S Phyllis D. Airhart. "Orderin2 a New Nation and Reordering Protestantism, 1867- 19 14,'' in Canadian Pratcrslottr Erprrience, ed. Rawlyk, 1 17, 125,127.1 3 1.

towards liberali~rn.'~ By the 1920s and 1 %Os, Rawlyk contends. liberalism established

itself in the colleges. seminaries and administrations of Protestant denominations to the

point that there existed. in Rawlyk's estimation, a liberal-mindsd --Protestant bureaucratic

academic hegemonY."" Meanwhile, those committed to evangelicalisrn became more

defensive and leaned towards fundamentalism. In impressionistic studirs such as thesr.

scholars have offired some reasons for the growin; divide among Canadian Protestants in

the early twentieth century. But in the interest of highlighting general features and trends

these accounts necessarily employ broad bmsh suokes rather than attention to detail."

It seems that examples of comparative analysis are more casily found outsidc of

Canada's borders. Amencan historian George Marsden has suggcsted that. ar least in the

United States, most Protestants before the decade of the 1930s stood somewhere bet~veen

the t w p l e s of hndamentalism and modemism and chose sides in the 1930s."

Likewise. William Hutchison elaborates on the relationships in the 1920s bcrween

Amencan liberal Protestants, fundamentalists and secular hurnani~ts.'~ British hisrorian

David Bebbington perceives a sirnilar split among conservative and liberal evangeiicals in

Britain in the 1920s. He reminds the reader that evangelicalisrn had aln-ays b e n diverse

in its rnembership and doctrines. Even when. afier the First World War. the doctrinal

19 Robert A. Wright, "The Canadian Protestant Tradition 1 9 14- 1 945," in Canadicrn Protestan& Erperirnce, cd. Rawlyk, 139-197.

Ravi\> k. Is Jesus Your Personal Saviour? 12- 13. " Ibid., 3 1-35. 77 -- Recent articles by David Plâuton and William H. Katerberg more specifically demonstrate the wide variety of theological leanings which existed within the United and An~lican dcnominations, respectively. David Plauton, "'We Will Evangelize with a Whole Gospel or None': EvangelicaIism and the United Church of Canada," in .4spects of the Canndian Evangelical Erperience, ed. RawIyk. 106- 122. and William H. Katerber;, "Redeftning Evangelicalisrn in the Canadian Anglican Church: Wycliffe College and the Evangelical Party, 1867- 1995," in Aspects of~he Canadian Evangelical Erprrrrnce. ed. RawIyk. f 7 1 - 158. '' Manden. Wnity and Divenity," 64. " Hutchison. Modernist Impulse, chap. S.

divide grew sharply. liberals and consematives still cooperated within a number of

organizations. But. Bebbington says. the polarization becarne "deep and permanent."

Essentially the divide grew from diffenng responses to cultural circurnstances: where

liberals sought to integrate evangelical religion with society, conservatives resisted out of

the belief that society had "rnoved too far away from Christian values.'' E w n so. the

result \vas not "a simple separation into camps" but rather "a broadening continuum of

Evangelical opinion.""

In two recent articles, h r n c a n historians have begun to demonstrate the value of

placing the theologies and practices of liberal and conservative Protestants side by side.

Grant Wacker finds that ar the tum of the century those individuals who would eventualiy

divide into more clearly-defined liberal and fundamentalist camps were pan of a network

of shartd concerns and evangelical e ~ ~ e r i e n c e . ' ~ More specifically, Wacker discovers

that \\hile theologians divergrd on some issues, they collectively tnunpeted the

importance of the Holy Spirit in the work of the church, they responded to die same

issues. and they cooperated in vanous activities. Wacker concludes that libcrals and

tùndarnentalists "enirrged from the same religious wornb" and could be characterized as

rival siblings." Taking a similar approach, Richard Ostrander focuses on the

devotional ism of certain liberal and fundamentdist leaders. Ostrander, li ke Wacker. finds

that even when the gap behveen the hvo groups of leaders had widened, they still held

'' Bebbington, Evrrngelicalism in Modern Britoin. 18 1. 227-228. Other helphl discussions of the theological variety within the Church of England are Kenneth Hylson-Smith, Evangelicafs in the Chltrch of England. 1 734- l98-l (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark, 1988). and Randle Manwaring, From Conrroverry to Co- Exisrencc: Evangelicals in the Chzlrch n/ England, ! 9 i 4- 1980 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). '"rant Wacker. T h e Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the Ape in American Protestantism, 1880- 19 10." Jozcrnaf ofrlmerican Histor). 72 , no. I (June I985),45-62, " Ibid., 49, 39.

some cornmon gound, such as the conviction that prayer was an essential part of the

Christian Me. Osuandrr uses nvo models to clarify the devotional differences: like a

banery. conserr-atives harnessed God's power each moming through the two "terminais"

of pra)-er and bible srudy. whereas liberals. like a windmill, exposed themselves to a

varie?. of spiritually rejuvenating sources throughout the day. '' These authors interested in cornparison are concerned with Protestantisrn in the

United Srates and (in the case of Bebbington) Britain. If Canadian historians adopt their

paradigms. this must be done with caution and a keen eye for differences. But

cornparison is nceded to nuance the two opposing expressions of Protestantism in Canada

as depictcd in the historical Iiterature. William H. Katerberg, in a study of Canadian

Anglican evangelicals. suggests that since there exists ample literature examining

evangdisalisrn. --the nest logical step is to explore the similarities and differencrs

brtween self-identified evangelical Protestants and other ~hristians.'' '~ Accordingly. a

key task of the presrnt study is to juxtapose the SCM and IVCF in their first decade of

sharcd existence. in an anempt to illuminate points of contact and divergence.

Rslatively little research has been done on either the SCM or WCF. In 1941 Ernest

-4. Dale. a University of Toronto professor, wrote a commemorative yet thought-

provoking history of the s c d O Since then, a number of academics have devoted studies

to the schr's history; these have almost exclusively focused on the SCM'S political and

" Richard Ostnnder. -.The Battery and the Windmill: Two Models of Protestant Devotionalism in Early- Twentieth-Cenrury America," Chzrrch Histoty (March 1996): 42-6 1. '9 Katerbers. %fyclitTe Collese and the Evangelical Party," 187-1 88. j0 Ernest -4. Dale, Twznty-One Years A-Building: ri Shorf riccount of the Student Chrisfian .\lovernent of Canada / 920- / 94 / (Toronto: Student Christian Movement, 1 94 1 ).

social a~tivisrn.~' These emphases are also reflected in social histones of the 1920s and

30s: Richard Allen. in The Social Passion: Religion and Social Reform in Canacin 1914-

28. highlights the SCM'S social gospel activism and Paul .k~elrod. in Mnking a Middle

Class: S~trdent Life in Englirh Canada during the Thirries. emphasizes its political

radicalism.'' Most recently Catherine A. Gidney. in a b i e f study of the Universin. of

Toronto SCM unit. likewise has highlighted the movement's activism but has gont further

and suggested that throughout its existence the scat tried to connect faith ~virh social

action. the balance being tipped in favour of one or the other at diffirent points in time."

WCF has been the object of few academic studies. Former KCF staff membcr

iMe1vin V. Donald's ccmrnemorative history contains a ivealth of informarion pressntcd

in a largely anecdotal format.'" David Phillips' Master3 thesis on the histo- of KCF

focuses specifically on Western Canada but ofien attempts to encompass the national

movement; Phillips characterizes WCF'S appearance in Canada as an extension of the

fiindamentalist-modernist controversies of the 1920s. John G. Stackhouse Jr.. in contrast.

contends that IVCF avoided controvsrsy; he describes WCF as a meetinpplacc for srudrnts

j l Aspects of Margarst Beanie's 1972 Ph.D. dissertation entitled "Pressure Group Politics: The Student Christian Movement" were incorporated by the ScM into Margaret Beattie et al., ..I BriefHisrory ofrhe S~udent Christian rClor.ement in Canada. 1921- 197-1 (Toronto: Student Christian Movement, 1975); a decade later, Donald L. Kirkey Jr. analyzed in detail the formation of the scxt in ."Building the City of God': The Founding of the Student Christian Movernent of Canada," (1M.A. thesis. McMaster University, 1983). Kirkey also presented a paper to the Canadian Historical Association, June 1988. entitled *-The Decline of Radical Libenl Protestantism: The Case of the Student Christian Movsrnent o f Canada." " Allen. SoctaI Passion; Axelrod. Making a .llidde Cfass. 5 ; Catherine A. Gidney, "'Poisoning the Student Mind'? The Student Christian %lovernent at the University of Toronto, 1920- 1965," paper presented to the Canadian Historical Association, June t 997. pp. 7. 24. 34 Donald, Spreading Tree,

of varying church experiences and as a key institution in the growining netivork of

consen-ative evangelicalism in nventieth-century canada."

-4 handful of scholars in Canada and elsewhere have d r a w bief comparisons

between the scxi and IVCF. Both Robert Wright and John Stackhouse note rhat IVCF

formed as an alternative to the liberal-minded s c d 6 John Webster Grant describes the

scxt as an organization which distanced itself from the churches, \vas involvcd in social

activisrn and. for a time in the 193Os, moved into a mode of "intro-spective religion":

I V C F ~ on the other hand. he depicts as an interdenorninationai effort of predorninantl!.

sectarian. conservative e~an~e l i c a l s .~ ' Though David Phillips briefl y looks at the

relationship between WCF and the SCM from 1975 to 1965, this is viewed lugely through

the lens of the two international or;anizations of which the Canadian movements

respectiveiy were members, the World Student Christian Federation and the International

Fcllowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). But since ~ F E S only came into being in 1946-

47, the earlier period when the SCM and WCF came to coexist on Canadian campuses is

iargeIy ignored.js British sociologist Steve Bruce contributes an important panoramic

cornparison of the British SCM and Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Cnions

(IVFEU) in his book entitled Firni in the Faith. He uses these two movements to

demonstrate the decline of liberal Protestantism and the growth of consen-arivc

'' David Phillips, T h e History of the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Western Canada" (M.C.S. thesis, Resent Col lege, 1 976); Stackhouse, Canadian Evangelicalism. Roben K . Burkinshaw, in Pifgrims in Lotus Land: Conservarive Prorestanrism in British Columbia 19 1 7- 198 1 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995). also discusses the IVCF unit at the University of British Columbia (and its predecessor. the Studènt Christian Fundamentalist Society) but for the most part relies on the arguments of David PhiIlips' rhesis. j6 Wright. Tanadian Protestant Tradition 19 14-1 945," 165. j 7 John Webster Grant. The Chitrch in rhe Canadian Era, rev. ed. (Burlington, ON: Welch Publishing Co.. 1988), 130, 178. 58 See chap. I O of Phillips, "IKF in Western Canada."

Protestantism through the twentieth century and to illuminate what contributed to these

processcs. Bruce contends that the SCbi and WFEU .'operated at the same time. in the

same culture. and in the same market'' and ultimately, excepting a few divergent

activities. an be regarded as similar in e v e m n g except their ideo~o~ies ." '~

The sparse historiography concerning the SCM and ~ V C F is cenainl!. not the rssult

of limited sources: to the contrary, rich archival material is housed in national collsctions.

for the SCM at the United ChurcWictoria University Archives at Emmanuel Collrge.

Toronto. and for ~ V C F at its head office in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto. Both

movèmznts organizsd a board of directors and an executive corrunittee which. for the

rnost p m . kept regular meeting ~ninutrs.~' Reports of annual national conferences and

the reminiscences of former rnembers are also important sources which ofien elucidate

both strengths and failures. Other sources Vary, and include persona1 correspondencc

between leaders (including reports between travelling secretaries and the genrral secretary

based in Toronto). correspondence with community supporters, brochures which

advenised upcoming rvents such as retreats, and other assorted materials. These sources

are gencnliy either prescriptive or descriptive in nature? Gaps in the evidence do exist

and it would be unwise to claim that the present study is an exhaustive presentation of the

two movsments' identities and practices. But in sum total these sorrces are sufficiently

;Y Steve Bruce, Firm in the Faifh (Aldershot, En~land: Gower Publishing Co., 1984), 65-66. The book generatly sets out to prove that consewative Protestantism, in contrast with liberai Protestantism, haj endured because its spscific creeds have given it clear boundaries or identity, what Bmce refers to as ri

strong -'product profile" (80-8 1). Minutes of IVCF'S meetings were recorded and filed as of 1935-36, afier the arriva1 of a new gertenl

secretap. C. Stacey Woods. Metvin Donald notes that behveen March 1930 and September 1934 dmost no detailed report of any kind was kept. Donald, Spreading Tree, 153. a I The anempt ha been made throughout to distinguish clearly benveen leaders' suggestions and hopes and the actual programme events.

numerous and varied to shed light on man. of the two movemrnts' beliefs. activitirs. and

interactions with other individuals and organizations in Canada and intemarionally.

Why is a comparative study of the SCM and WCF important'? First of ail. die sparse

histonography of these two movemrnts suggests that the contributions of students to

churches. universities, and society in general. have ofien been ignored. -4 number of the

key historical works dealing with the influence of Protestantisrn in Canada in the

nineteenth and earl y twentieth centuries have focused extensive1 y on the views of

clergymen-professors; indsed. much of the secularization debate revolves around their

J 2 writings. Histonans Ramsay Cook and David Marshall point to changes within

colleges and univenities as evidence that secularization was taking place: Cook contends

that over time theology was replaced by sociology. and Marshall similarly argues that the

Bible's use as a testbook diminished and clergymen ceascd to bc in positions of acadcniic

influencc4' Evidence that Christianity's presence in the educational curriculum

diminished is compelling. But the realm of the extracurricular should not be overlooked.

The study of the SCM and IVCF semes to counterbalance historians ' rel iance on the

witings of professors and other educational administrators and points ro the tàct rhat.

even when the curriculum changed, Chnstianity maintained a presence. in various forms.

on campuses.

It is true that coilege and university students in the 1930s represented only a small

portion of Canadian society - in 193 1, for example, only three prr cent of Canadians

r? Examples are Ramsay Cook's The Regenerators, Marperite Van Die's ,-ln Er.angeiicaf .\find: Nathanael Bnnvush and the Methodisr Tradition in Canada. /839-1915 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill- Queen's University Press, 1989). David Marshall's Seczdarking the Faith, and Michael Gauvreau's Evungelicai Century. 4; Cook, Regenerators, 4, and Marshall. Seculari,-i)~g the Faith, 22-23.

benveen die ages of twenr); and nventy-four were enrolled in higher ed~cation.' '~

Likewise. rnembership in the SCM and IVCF was srnail: for example. Catherine Gidney

States <bat members of the SCM unit at the University of Toronto. one of the more active

units in Canada, represented benveen four and eight per cent of the total srudent body

from the 1920s to 1965."' and it is likeiy that in the 1930s IVCF'S nurnbers w r e even

smaller. Small numbers did not. however, rnean tittle influence. Canadian institutions of

higher cducation through the 1930s contributed thousands of leaders to the religious.

cducational. political and entrepreneurial sectors of society. Paul Axelrod has argued that

although a university degree did not guarantee success, ir did make availabls "a range of

poienriu! opportunities large1 y unavailable to less educated c i t i ~ e n s . ' ~ ~ In the 1 93 Os. t he

scai and IVCF contributed much to student activism and to the collective \.aise of religion

on Canadian campuses. These movements should be treated as important organizarions

within educational institutions and within the àroader Canadian society.

There is also a need for a more integrated presentation of each of thcse

movements. for a treatment which balances thought and action. Scholars inrcrested in

IVCF haw most often emphasized its creed and have characterized it as a conservativr

reaction to liberal theology. A deeper understanding is needed of how IVCF'S beliefs

found expression in actual activities and to what extent these were planned in opposition

to liberalism. Conversely, the schr has frequently been portrayed as a radical organization

engaged in the public criticism of aspects of the social and political order and in the

pursuit of social justice. The question arises as to what extent the 'Christian' in 'Student

1J Asclrod. ,tfaking a .Lfiddle Class, 3 1 . Axeirod notes that this three per cent enrollment acruaily esceeded ti~ures for Britain and Germany but lagged significantly behind the United States. 4s Gidney. "Poisoning the Student Mind?" 6-7.

Christian Movement' was an important factor for members: did the SCM'S programme

include religious activities and did Christian beliefs support their activism? The

arguments of those who have compared the SCM and IVCF have hinged on the issue of

belirfi IVCF held to a traditional evangelical creed, while the SCM espoused a radical

social Christianity. But there is room for more analysis of whether any comrnon ground

e'risted between their theologies and to what extent the two movrments' programme

activities couid be disringuished from each other.

The fact that the SCM and IVCF were voIuntary organizations offers a new

dimension to rrligious history which ofien has relied, whether by choice or by necessity.

on the voices of i l i tes such as clergy and professors. John S tackhouse and George

Marsden agree that institut ions allow richer historical portrayals: ;Marsden assens that

institutions "stand midway betwrrn the people who nin them and the largcr movcments

and cultural trends in which they participate" and " c m be means through cvhich to look at

both the more panicular and the more general.'A7 The histories of the SCM and ivci

permit the anrilysis both of underlying principles which comected them with or

dissociated them from the wider Stream of Protestantism and the activities of a number of

their leaders.

The fact that the majority of these two organizations' activities were run

voluntarily by students and were extracurricular to both the educational institutions that

hosted them and the denominations which associated with them also prevents an overly

élitist account. Non-students - sometimes professors. clergy, missionaries or

16 lbid.. 20. 1: Stackhouse. Cunadian Evangelicalism, and Marsden, Reforming Fundamentaiism: Fuller Seminas. and the rVnc. Er.angelicalisrn (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub tishing Co., 1987). 1 .

entrepreneurs - did play important advison roies in the SC>! and IYCF. But. it musr be

remembered. these people typicallÿ had bern students themselves. 'vloreover. especially

in the eariy years of both of these movements, staff numbers were minimal and national

offices w r e srnall. IVCF'S staff. for example. consisted into the latter 1930s of a general

secret- and two or three travelling secretaries covering most of the country. The scu as

the oldcr of the w o organizations was only slightly more established. Thus the stories of

the s c ~ and WCF provide insight into a relatively obscure realm of Protestantism as

expressrd by students and propelled largely through the energies of students themselvrs -

individuals who at the sarne tirne worked towards acadrrnic succcss in the hopes of

finding careers. wlio ofien were employed part-time and during the sumrncrs to pay for

their education, and who attended other campus events such as sporting contests. danccs.

or concerts.'"

For the historian interested in comparing various manifestations of Protestantism.

it is sionificant t that the scxr and IVCF. with their distinctive liberal and conservative

theoloeies. coexisted in Canada from l9ZM9 onward and often workzd wirhin the mils

of the same institutions. If the. at least shared the physical contest. the question nseds to

be asked. to what estent they held other features in common. For rsamplc. did thrir close

proximity force the rwo movements to sharpen their own identities? Chapter two secks ro

determine the separate identities which the SCM and IVCF fashioned by enpaging their

historical traditions, by issuing formal and infonnal statements of purpose and belief. bu

associations with individuals, organizations and institutions. and by their posture towards

each other.

'' For a more complete picture of campus life in the 1930s. see chap. 5 of Aselrod, .\taking a Middle Cfass.

In chapters threr and four. proCigammes are outlined and compared. Chapter direz

concerns the question of how the SC41 and IKF sou& to foster Christian pie?. hrough

devotional activities. Chapter four focuses on their activism. in other words how the SCN

and IKF put their beliefs into practice.

Behind these questions lie larger ones such as whether the 'fundarnenralist' and

'modemist' caricatures were accurate representations of IVCF and the scxi and to whar

extent there really did exist a 'great divide' between these two movernents. If each was

part of 2 larger divide on the Protestant landscape' did these two student movements

consider this barrier insurmountable? Or did there esist shared concerns. beliefs or

practiccs which made crossing the divide possible?

M A W G THE BOUNDMES: SELF-DEFNITIOXS OF THE STUDENT CHRISTIAN' MOVEMEYT .AND

INTER-VARSITY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

1 do not see any real necessiry for a new organization. Students of evangelical opinions are quite ~velcome in the Students' Christian Association, provided they are willing -?O live and let live."'

-Rev. F.J. Moore. head of the University ofToronto SCM, 1929

Thsretore Ive can tnithfully announce that we do not go frorn place to place with the avotvsd objsct of fom~in; branches of the I ~ C F as such. This may seern to some an idsalistic attitude ro take. but ive on11

sptak the tmth 1vht.n we declare that we wouid much prefer to see the Student Christian .ilovement carpins out w r programme than find it necessary to undenake it ourselves apan from [hem.'

-Noel Palmer, zeneral secretary of IVCF, 192 1

.As Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship spread slowly across Canada rhrough the

1 9305. some students. college and university administrators. and church leaders

quesrionrd the neccssity for two Christian campus groups. Such criticism of rhis parallcl

presencc w3s undoubirdly knotvn to leaders and members of the and I K F . Partly in

rcsponss. thesr individuals sought to give ciear definition to their respective movrments.

To ducidate the SCM'S and WCF'S self-definitions, there exists a variety of sources

rmging [rom diaries. correspondence and persona1 reminiscences to staff reports. the

minutes of administrative meetings and material intended for wider distribution such as

I Rev. F.J. Moore. quoted in "New Movement is Fundarnentalist, Says Organizer," Universiv ofToronto t ' a r s i ~ . [hereafter C.QrsipJ, 18 January 1 929, Inter-Varsity Christian Fel lowship of Canada Papers. ivCF National Office. Richmond Hill, ON [hereafier [VA], unlabelled box, anached to lener from Rev. H. Brash Bonsall [principal of Birmin9am Bible Institutej. "Unlabelted box" references throughout are to a box housed in the IVCF library which contains an assortment of historicaI material mixed with more retent correspondence and research notes by Melvin V. Donald.

funciraising letters. pamphlets, transcripts of talks and published materials. These either

explicitly or irnplicitly identified the historical mots of their respective movement: what

each opposed; its beliefs and goals: the individuals and organizations with which it

associarcd itsele the Protestant denominations which composed its membership; and howv

the nvo student groups felt about one other. A cornparison of the SCU'S and IVCF'S

staternents of self-definition reveals that key differences exisred betwen the two

movemcnts. At the sarne tirne' surprishg commonalities also emerge and suggest that the

two movements shared more than physical space.

Differences were evident when individuals describrd their respective movernents'

historical mots. The question of what circumstances or issues had precipirated and

shaped the XM or IVCF became especially important when leaders wers ksrn to convince

potential financial contributors of their particular movement's significancc on Canadian

campuses. Establishing a sense of -tradition' - an understanding that rach of these

movements was not fledgling but drew from earlier movements - was seen as a means of

building credibility. Historical influences continued to bs mentioned years later as

former members or leaders reflected on thçir colIege/university days: these reminiscences.

sometimes critical, were often the subjects of SCM or IVCF anniversary crlebrations.

The SCM pointed to a handful of student movements as its spiritual predecessors.

Members recalled that in the late nineteenth century an international student Christian

revival had taken place which had produced important catalysts for the Canadian SCM.

Specifically narned were the English S ~ M , founded in 1894, and the World Student

Christian Federation (WSCF), formed a year later. Another influence. intenvoven with the

' Noel Palmer, .'Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement." Ms [drafi). [193 I l . [VA. unlabelled

histop- of the British SCM. had been the transatlantic wave of student mission- effort

facilitated under the banner of the Student Volunteer Movernent (SVM). founded in 1888

in Northfield. blassachusetts and headed by John R. ~Moa. One former sclr'er recalled:

The [British] SC%f took its inception From that amazing outburst of evanselistic ztal which swept the k'cstern world. and panicularty the English-speaking countries, at the end of the ninereenth centun. This \vas in many xvays the zenith of rnissionary endeavour, and the Student Movernent u as boni amid cries of --The evangelisation of the world in our tirne" and rnass recmitment of university **volunteers" for service under this banner.'

But it was noted M e r that a shift in purpose had taken place over the nest decades:

--Originating in a challenge to university students to c q the Gospel to faraway lands. it

soon found itself with a somewhat different task on its hands, the task of cmying the

Gospel to these very university students. Thus has evolved irs traditional mission. the

evangelisation of the intelligentsia of the whole ~ o r l d . " ~

More indijenous influences were the Student Departments of the Young Mzn's

and Young Women's Christian Associations in Canada, which had been coordinating

religious activities on carnpuses since the latter decades of the nineteenth century. The

SCM acknowledged grateîùlly the "valuable service rendered by these organizations to the

collegss of Canada." But. according to SCM accounts, following World \Var One srudents

in Canada. as in other parts of the world, had perceived a need for a new organization

devoted solely to working arnong university and college students? Snidents also had

box, file --History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 19. ' "The Student Christian Movement of Canada," reflection, 1953, SCM KA, box 84-10, file 13. ' Ibid. ' "The Smdent Christian Movement in Canada," hindaising letter, [192 1-22]. SCM Ucn box 84- 15. National Office Printed Materials Scnpbook, 1930-34, p. 18.

been disillusionsd with the suppon of the war effort by Protestant churches. of which the

YWY WC.\ 's were perceived to be e~tensions.~

The sc5i.j understanding of its roots, then. was layered; while it recognized the

valuable contributions of the SVM'S evangelistic enthusiasm and the activities of the

church-based YW'~'WCA'S, the schr consciously altered or departed fkom the aims of these

more conservativs movements. Paradoxically, the SCM traced its history to nineteenth-

century evangelicalism and the decades of student work camed out by the YWYWCA'S but

at the same time also drfined itself in opposition to this tradition.

WCF traced its roots to some of the same movements but viewed them differently.

IVCF leaders. like sclr leaders, identified their history with the iransatlantic evangelical

revival of the latter nineteenth century and the efforts of the SVM and leaders such as John

R. blott and Robert Wilder. They also expressed some reservations about this heritage,

but for rasons opposite to the SCM'S. Some felt that in later years Mott had

overemphasized ecumenism, or inclusivisrn, to the detriment of his evangelical faith.

One IYCF secretary recalled the animosity of Mott and his many friends in the worldwide

church towards flsdgling evangelical groups such as [L'CF. The secretary had been

surprised upon discovering that these sarne leaders who in the 1930s IVCF leaders

considered to br the "chief opponents of orthodoxy" had, around the tum of the century,

been active -'in leading university missions, in personal sou1 winning, advocating quiet

times and foreign missions."' At the same time he credited Robert Wilder (eventually

6 Kirkey, -'Building the City of God," 82. For examples of this SCM opinion, see Dale, TwenpOne Years .-t-Building, 4-5, and J . Davidson Ketchum, "Aller Twenty Years," [194 l?]. scicr UCA, box 84-1 1. file 1 . 7 Donald. Spreading Tree, 12, and Charles Troutman, "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Wimess in the United States," Ms. 1 June 1965, p. 142. Troutman spent a number of years in the latter 1930s working with the Canadian IVCF, especially in Québec. This manuscript coniains helpful infornation on both the .

pushed away fiorn the SVM and WSCF because of his traditional beliefs) widi bringing "a

strong rnissionary emphasis" into evangelical student movernents wvor~dwide.~

Moreover, Inter-Varsity leaders acknowledged the place of the British and the

Canadian SCM in their own rnovement's history but aiso emphasized that IVCF had been

formed partly in opposition to these movements' liberalism. The first [\TF general

secretary, Noel Palmer. recognized that the SCM had emerged out of the evangelistic

fervour of the late nineteenth century and that it still held vestiges of the originai courage

and enthusiasm for e ~ a n ~ e l i s r n . ~ IVCF leaders generally agreed that the scai, out of its

eagerness to evangelize, emphasized an inclusive membership and, in order to achieve

this, suppressed doctrinal discussions. Subsequently. in their vizw traditional doctrines

which IVCF considered to be the life-blood of Christianity gradually were replaced by a

liberal t he~ logy . ' ~ In Palmer's words, IVCF stood "where the scbr stood thirty yrars

aga."' ' IKF described itself as a child of the British Inter-Vanity Fellowship of

Evangelical Unions (IVFEU or WF), which itself had been formed by groups which had

Canadian and the American IVCF. Thanks to James Berney, General Director of IVCF of Canada, for loaning this manuscript. s Troutman, "Backgrounds of Evangelical Universin, Witness," 133. Douglas Johnson notes that Wilder was a key speaker at the first International Conferonce oPevangeIica1 students in High Lei$, England in 1934 and toured a number of British universities in early 1935. Douglas Johnson, Contending for rhe Fairh: .-i Hisrov of rhe Evange/ical Movernenr in rhe Universities and Colleges (Leicester, England: Inter- Varsity Press, 1979), 182, 192- 1 93. Wilder's books, such as Yalianr in Fighr, were disrributed arnong students. See Charles Troutman, "Inter-Varsity and Inter-Schooi Christian Fellowship Secretarial Information, P.Q. 1937-38," annual report, (1 938?], !VA, box 4, file "Annual Reports - C. Troutman." 9 NoeI Palmer, "Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," Ms [drafl], [193 1 1 , [VA, unlabeiled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 3-5. Palmer warned: "Those who think of the Movement as just a dead Society eaten up with rnodemisrn known nothing of [the missionary] side of it, and c m o t easily realize the appeal which it makes to the eager student-mind." Palmer had himself been a member and even a student secre tq , for a short term, of the scxt at Oxford University until 1920, at which time he helped ro found the evangelical Oxford University Bible Union. Donald, Spreading Tree, 17- 18, 61 . IO Troumian. "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Witness," 69-7 1. Concerned with the British Schr and NF, Steve Bruce perceives that the evangelicals who broke away from the SCM tended to describe the SCh1's early days as very conservative, when in reality it was composed of eventual liberals and conservatives who suppressed doctrinal differences in order to cooperate in evangelism. Bruce. Firrn in rhe Fairh, 67-68.

splintered from the British SCM benveen 19 10 and 1920. l 2 Leaders also pointed out that

there ivcre sc>iWers who. hstrated with the SCM'S dismissal of traditionai orthodoxy. had

joined IVCF.'' Thus I V ~ F leaders saw their movement to be opposed to the inclusivism

and li berai theology of the SCM and the SVM, and determined that it was their task to re-

establish a consemative orthodoxy, which the other groups considered to be outmoded.

As has already been evident in their understanding of the historical roots of their

respective movements, s c ~ and WCF leaders named specifically what their respective

movements sought to oppose. In addition, therefore, to underscoring their historie

origins. leaders justified their rnovement7s existence and defined its purposes dirough

reactive statements.

The SCM reacted strongly against traditional Christianity. One sc.\r'er described

the movernent in the inter-war years as iconoclastie and "sharply critical" of the church's

*-outmoded ~hibboleths."~" Likewise, leaders expressed their belief that church traditions

had obscured the "real Jesus"; a 1929 seminar brochure declared that Jesus' teachings and

" Noel Palmer, untitlcd Ms, [draft], [193 11, NA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Soel Palmer." " '.The Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada," pamphlet, [early 1930~1, [VA, unlabelled box, file "N.P. 1930-33." 13 Noel Palmer, untitled Ms [draAJ, [193 11, NA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer." Historian Richard Allen likewise notes chat a portion of the SCM'S membenhip in the lare 1920s found "a more congenial home" in the newly-founded 1vcF (which Allen erroneousiy describes as having rnoved onto Canadian campuses from the United States; in fact the reverse is me). Allen, Social Passion, 3 1 1. For substantiation that this in fact occurred throughout the t 930s, see Arthur Hill, "Early Days of the [VCF in Canada." Ms, [ca. 19651, [VA. unlabelled box, file "A.H. - 1933-34"; Donald, Spreading Tree. 82; Stan Reid to Charles Troutman, 21 November 1950, NA, unlabelled box, file "K.H. 1929-30"; Charles Troutman to Claude Vipond, 33 September 1938, VA, box 3, file ''Charles Trouunan, QC"; Cathie Nicoll, report. 2-9 Decernber 1939, !VA, unlabelled box, file "'34-'4 1"; Troutman, "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Witness," 82. Some conservative students had already organized alternative groups to the SCM before the emergence of IVCF, such as those involved in the Student Volunteer Band at the University of Western Ontario, formed in 1925, and the Student Christian Fundamentalkt Society at the University of British Columbia, formed in 1926. Phillips, "WCF in Western Canada," 34 1. 14 "The Student Christian Movement of Canada," reflection, 1953, SCM UCA, box 84-10, file 14.

authority had been --shrouded by ancient philosophies and theologies."" Similarly, a

general secretan saw Jesus' central place in the SCM to be -'net as historical fi, wrc. not as

central pillar in a theological system. nor as corner-stone in a vast. universal institution. -

but as a pulsating. throbbing. dynarnic personality who reveals God and transfoms

man."14 F O ~ the s c ~ . the task was to recapture the tnie essence of Jesus which had been

ignored or covered up by the church.

.A key instrument in the SCM'S task of revealing the -truc‘ Jesus to srudents was

the higher criticism of the Bible. Unlike the traditional view of the Bible as the

authoritative and literal Word of God. the higher cnticism analyzed the Bible as literaturc.

'-One of the greatest needs of educated Canadians," wote one member. "has been for a

popularised appreciation of the modem approach to the whole ~ible."" Liberal

theologian Henry Bunon Sharman prepared Bible study guides for the SCM which

rncouraged studsnts to siR through the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke in

search of the authentic sayings of Jesus. In reaction against the perceived dogmatism of

the church and rhc mors directive bible studies of the YMCA and YWCA." S h m a n

assertcd his belid that students were ablz to discover for themselves the ramifications of

Jesus' teachings: "If we cannot rest confident in the belief that when Jesus is adcquarsly

known the implications of his thought will be obvious, not only so but likewise

15 Brochure for Camp hlinnesing Iota Sigma Seminar, [19293, SC>! UCA, box 84- 15, National Office Printrd Materials Scrapbook, 1920-34. p. 130. This camp, organized by Henry Bunon Sharman, was named "Iota Sisma Sem inar" in rekrence to the first and last letters of Jesus' Greek name (' Iqaoug). 1 t w u in these decades that Fraternitiss (or "Greek-letter societies") were appearing, with some resistance, on Cmadian campuses. Ses Axelrod, Making a rMidd(e Cfass, 106- 108. 16 Murray Brooks, "Sorne Thoughts of the 'Genius' of the sch.r." reflection, 1957, schr KA, bos 84- 136, file 24. ln regard to the SX'S critical and iconoclastic attitude towards the church, see also "The Student Christian Movement of Canada," reflection, 1953, scht KA, box 84-10, file 14. 17 Wilfred F. Butcher to Ernest Dale, 25 August 194 1, SCM UCA, box 84- 1 1, file 1. Butcher's conclusion was that the SCM "as a whole" had failed in this task.

cornpelling, then rve should regard ounelves as engaged in a hopeless task.-'19 SCM

leaders employed the higher criticism in the sincere hope rhat this modem technique

would reveal the relevance and significance of Jesus.

The scxi also sought to de-emphasize what they considercd to be the church's

othenvorldly orientation - its traditional belief in a transcendent. supematural God who

would destroy the earth and judge individuals. either admitting thcm to heaven or

banishing thern to hell. One schi document proposed that modem people. through the

influence of science and social refom. sought a "new type of rcligious esperience" which

rejectrd "the othenvorldly framework of traditional Chnstianity." Rather. a modem faith

shouid be shaped through involvement in the modem world." Naturally. this critical

posture toward the supematural rlement of Chnstianity and their questioning of doc trines

such as the authority and inspiration of the Bible were linked topher."

More generally the SCM sought to counter what it sensed ro be the church's

dogmatism - its daim to have a monopoly on the tmth, or its blind acceptance of certain

doctrinzs. In opposition to this. the SCM valued a contest which gave frec rein to ideas.

One former s~ .v ' e r reminisced that the mowment provided a forum for those rvho had

18 Gidney, "Poisoning the Student Mind?" 8. 19 This One Thing: A Tribute to H e m y Burton Sharman (Toronto: Student Christian Movement, 1959)' 43-44, quoted in Beanie et al., Brief History, 75-76. On Sharman's background, s re Airhart, Sening the Presenr Jge: Revivalisrn, Progressivism. and the hfethodist Tradition in Canada (Montreal and Kingston: McGil I-Queen's University Press, 1 Wî), 1 15. 'O "Syllabus 8: Reference Material for Discussion Group Leaders on Student Problems. Elgin House 1928." pi. 3, SCM KA, box 84- 136, file 25. '' Othsr areas of suspicion, according to Donald Kirkey, were lesus' virgin binh and physical resurrection. miracles. and messianic daims, as well as traditional doctrines of sin. Kirkey. ..Building the City of God." 88.

g p w n up attendinc - church but who at univenity questioned its beliefs." A general

secretary pointed out the SCM'S attitude of intelligent open-mindedness and implicitiy

contrasted it to the ami-intellectualism of the wider church:

The scxr encourages its members to be students in fact as well as in narne. If one is to be a Christian, one must be an inteiligent Christian. He must develop mental 'guts' and use them in persistent. unrelenting study and more study. Positions held are tentative and fluid, not fixed; attirudes are scientific, not dogrnatic. Students make no daim to have found a final base but only ro be ever reaching out further; seekin;, questionix, enquiring, becoming. They never expect to anain to finalities or ultirnates. . . . SCM memben retùse to accept creeds and doctrinal statements without question. or to conform to usages and forms unless they see an intelligent reason for doing so. To the church they bring fiesh thinking. inhsion of new iife. . . ."

To this leader the opemess to new thought in the SCM was not a complete rebellion

against the churchrs but rather \vas intended to convey "new lifc" to a drcaying

institution. Thus. n-hile abhorring a dogrnatic attitude, the SCM defined itself not as

rejecting the church but as being in the vanguard of church reform, intenr to jettison

decrepit doctrines and replace them with new and vigorous thinking.

IVCF. in contrast, defined itself in opposition to the liberal element of the church.

In IVCF'S view. accepting liberal presuppositions was a large step toivard rejecting

religion altogether. One WCF secretary challenged the idea of Leslie Weatherhead. a

well-known liberal Methodist author, that religious experience could be esplained

" Reid E. Vipond. 3 o m e Reflections on The Student Christian Movement ar Queen's Universi-. 1933- 1939," Ms, 199 1 , W. Bentley Macleod Fonds, Queen's University Archives, A-ARCH 2303.15. file " s c ~ letters." 8-9. " Murray Brooks. 5 o m e Thought of the 'Genius' of the SCM," refiection. 1957, KM CC\. box 8.1- 136. file 24. Not ail leaders agreed with this intellectuai liberty. W.A. Visser't Hooft, general secretary of the WSCF. challenged s c ~ ' e r s to be loyal to Christian convictions. "My own hope," he said, "is that the XM will become a movement which will increasingly ask students to choose; that it will challenge students to commit themselves. There must be discussion and study in the SCM, but these rnust lead up to a choice." Dale, Twenry-One Years A-Building, 42. Likewise Canon Leonard Dixon, who came to Canada afier being involved with fndia's KM, immediately noticed that the Canadian SCM Iacked "positive conviction" in comparison with the movement in India. Whereas in lndia the movement had aniculated its belief in Christ. the Canadian attitude \vas, in Dixon's words, "Let each man paddle his ow-n canoe and possibly some driy he may amive." To the extent that the Canadian spirit had resembled the Indian one, he deemed that the

through psycholop. The secretary retorted that Weatherhead's views were -'neither good

p s y c h o l o ~ nor sound religion." To students who might be swayed by Wsatherhead. i v c ~

needed to srate its conviction that "evangelical" Christianity was not subject to a scientific

NCF specifically targeted the higher cnticism of the Bible. AI IVCF - eraduate

student challenged the liberal view "that the Bible is at once a tissue of myths. Icgends.

forgrries. weird apocalyptic visions, some more or less dependable history and . . . that

this motle? assonment constitutes a masterpiece of religious literature." Those who

embraccd the higher criticism. the student believed. could easily end up ..in the camp of

athrism."" A pamphlet of the early 1930s employed a sailing analogy to charactcrize the

end result of questioning Scnpture's divine inspiration: "The world is being dricen

before the winds like a rudderless vesse1 at sea, because its leaders are rejectinp the

practical authoriry and guidance of the ~ible.""

WCF leaders encouraged a number of student responses to the Iiberal view of the

Bible. In 193 1 thc general secretary advised students to be patient; time. he believed,

would vindicare their position concerning the Bible. He questioned whetlier scholarship

would ever cornpletely resolve difficulties with the Bible. In fact, quite the opposite,

"countless theories" which attempted to "discredit the Bible in part or wholr" had already

- --

resulü had been positive. Leonard A. Dixon. "SCM University ofToronto - 193 1 to I9;j." [I94 I?]. SCM UCA, box 1 1 , file 1 , p. 2. " lirn Forrester ro C. Stacey Woods. repon, 50 December 1937, i v ~ . box 3 , file "lim Forrester. W. Canada." " Fred H. Leach. .-The Signitïcance and Irnponance of the Doctrine of the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible.'. TMs. Canadian supplement to the British IVFEU magazine, 1937, IVA, box 3, file "1935-36 British IVCF." 8. 26 "The Inter-Varsi. Christian Fellowship o f Canada," pamphlet, [early 1930~1, [VA, unlabelled box. file

"N.P. 1930-33." For an example of IVCF'S conflict with the liberal view ofthe Bible at the University of Manitoba in 1929. see "Varsicy Christian Union." The Munitoban ( 1 O January 1930). clipping. iv.4.

later by some ignorant transcribers! They only accepted certain parts of Man[hew], Mark and Lukt which agreed with their notions. ,411 passages that disageed with h e m had been insened! And r h q wvre in dead. e ~ r n e r r . ~

Interactions such as this reaffirmed Guinness and other leaders in defending traditional

Christian doctrines against the liberal elernent in Protestant churches.

More positively than statements of reaction. both movements formulated their

convictions into concrete statements of belief and purpose. These Further illuminated

their differing self-definitions. The SCM'S "Basis and Aim." revised in 1933, statêd:

The Student Christian Movement of Canada is a fellowship of students based on the conviction that in lesus Christ are found the supreme revelation of God and the rneans to the hl1 realization of Iife.

The Movement seeks through study, prayer, and practice to know and follow Jesus Christ and to unite in its fellowship al1 students in the colIeges of Canada who share the above conviction, together with al1 students who are willing to test the tmth of the conviction upon which the Movement is founded.

The Movement desires to share with others the values discovered in lesus Christ and to join with those of like mind in al1 lands and of every race and rank in the creation of a world-wide order of society in harrnony with the mind and purpose of Gad as revealed in Jesus Christ. 'O

IVCF'S "Statement of .Agreement." composed in 1933, declared:

The airn of the Fellowship shall be to establish and maintain in the universities. colleges. Normal schools and secondary schools of Canada groups of students whose objects shall be:

(a) To witness to the Lord Jesus Christ as God Incarnate. and to se& to kad othors to a personal faith in Him as Saviour.

(b) To deepsn and strengthen the spirinial life of members by the study of the Bible and by prayer."

Appended to ~ V C F ' S aims was a list of specific doctrines which the movement hoped to

represent to students and to which al1 in leadership or advisory positions had to adhere:

'' Howard Guinness, di-. 16 March 1929, [VA, unlabelled box. j0 SCXI Constitution. revised 1 1 - 13 September 1933, SCM UCA, box 84- 15, National Office Printed Materials Scrapbook, 1920-34, p. 8. The third clause, added in 1933, was influenced directly by the following American YWCA statement of purpose: "To realise full and creative life through a growing knowledge of God. We determine to have a pan in making this life possible for al1 people. In this task we seek to understand Jesus and follow him." SCM National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 4-6 Junt 1932. SCJI KA.

box 84-56, file " 1 932." j l Quoted in Stackhouse, Canadian Evangelicalisnt. 93.

1. The Divine inspiration, integrity and authonty of the Bible. 7 -. The Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2. The necessity and eficacy of the vicarious death of Jesus Christ for the redernption of the

wortd. -4. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration. 5- The consumation of the Kingdom in the "glorious appearing of the great God and our

Sa\ iour. Jesus ~hrist."''

These statements of purpose reveal clrar differences between the SCM and i v c ~ .

The most obvious difference between the scbr's and IVCF'S statements kvas WCF'S

inclusion of a tks-point doctrinal statement. While the SCM'S statement did include

*convictions' conccming Jesus Christ. IVCF delineated its beliefs in much more detail.

Evidcnce suggcsu. in fact that the [VCF Board of Directors insisted that IVCF h a ~ e a clear

belief statement in their Constitution in direct reaction to the SCM'S "Basis and ~irn.'"'

In stating their goals, the two rnovements reflected their divergent theologies. The

scxr's aim to build a "world-wide order" based on Christian principles resonated with the

influence of the social gospel, the Iiberal Protestant move to establish the 'Kingdom of

God" on earth through social reform." Jesus' teachings, it was felt, could be drawn on to

inform solutions to modem-day social, political and economic crises. Behind the social

" Ibid. There is agreement that IVCF'S five-point doctrinal statement came frorn an external source. but speciîically which source is unclear. Former secretaries C. Stacey Woods and Charles Troumian stated that it was adopted, with s l i~ht variations, from a statement of faith drawn up by American fiindarnentalist leaders in the 1920s. C. Stacey Woods, The Grorvth of a Work ofGod (Downers Grove. IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1978). 46, and Troutman, "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Witness," 152. In contrast, brmer seneral secretary Arthur Hill believed that the statement was drawn fiom the ba is of faith of the British China lnland Mission (cihi). Stackhouse, Canadian Evangelicalism, 93. In 1935, ivcF leaders made minor word changes and embellished the third doctrine to read: "The necessity and effkacy of the substiturionary death of Jesus Christ for the redemption of the world, and the historic fact of H is bodily resurrection." lVCF Constitution. [1935-361, [VA, box 3, file "Executive Cornrninee Canada (Fellowship Constitution)"; see also app. I of Donald, Spreoding Tree, 325. Until 1935. when local chapters were invited to subscribe to the cornmon Basis, each chapter had formulated its own statement, which caused "quite a bit of confusion." lVCF Board of Directors minutes, [1935], IVA, filing cabinet, binder "Minutes, Board of Directors. 20 Jan. 1936 - 16 Oct. 1954." '' Arthur and Mrs. P. Hill. interview by Robert and Madge Paulette, transcript, 198 1. [VA. unlabelled box. tile "A.H. 1933-34." " klargaret Beanie calls the period 1920- 1939 the "Social Gospel*' phase of the SCM. Beanie et al., Brief Hisron.. 74.

gospel 1ay a cornmitment to the theological belief of God's immanence in human society

through the peson and work of Jesus. Thus in the "Basis and Aim" it was stated bat

Jesus revealed '-the mind and purpose of God" and offered --the full realization of life." -4

professor pointedly asked University of Toronto scbl'ers in 1928. --How is there going to

be any religious attachrnent to a God who sits in glory on high and watches the suffering

in the world He has made?" Rather than a clouded and inscrutable drity. God had

become. in the prrson of Jesus Christ. '-subject to His o k v n l aw. sharing n-ith us the toi1

and pain and torture, a God of love who enjoys al1 that love would impose."j5 In Jesus.

God placed himself in the midst of human history and society and. as a result. made

himself understandable and wonhy of devotion.

This theology, combined with the evolutionary idra that human society was

constantly progressing, led to a great deal of optimism and idealism in the scsr. .-Thrrr

were many of us." one former member recalled with some seif-criticism. "who wre

s t q - e y e d about the possi biiities of transfoming everything in to the Kingdom of God."

He noted further his perception that for most students in the movement. "man \vas

basically good and al1 that was really needed was social engineering under humanitarian

and preferably Christian auspices. -Original Sin' was a musty theological concept, a

church word, used in the interest of paralyzing social change and progress."'6

" Dr. J.M.P. Sclater. reponed in article, "Christ Makes God Possible Object of our Worship," t*arsiry 47. no. 98 ( 1 March 1928). VarsNy microfilm. Universiry of Toronto Archives. See also Henry Bunon Sharman. "What is the Gospel?" transcript. 1927. anached to letter, H.L. Bowman to Murray Brooks. 29 April 1960, SCM UCA, box 84- 10, file 37. 36 William R. Coleman, "Sorne Reflections of the Place of Theology in the Canadian SCM." paper presented to the XM Leadership Training Programme, 29 August - 5 September 1973, Toronto. scht UCA, box 84- 136, file 24.

By the midpoint of the 1930s the SN'S idealisrn. reflected in its statement of

purpose. had subsided. Voices emerged which considered liberal thcoloov - . ro be naïve.

For esample, an schr'er at United College, Winnipeg, in 1 9 3 challenged the

egocentricity of modem society from a theocentric perspective:

The Modern Point of View . . . insists that everyhing, even God, be judged from the human standpoint - that evq-thing, even religion. starts from man and his needs. But if our relision doss not stand upon the conviction that God has spoken then it has no basis. We rnust get back to a theocentric view of life and its issues. and cast into limbo our homocentric delusions."

-4nother former scli'er rernembered a search in the 1930s for a theology which would

"make a realistic appraisal of the human situation" without resulting in either "cynicism"

on the one hand or **pietisrn" on the other.js Notwithstanding these changes in viewpoint.

the "Basis and Aim," together with its theological presuppositions, endured through the

1930s.

In contrast to the SCM'S liberai theology and emphasis on the social gospel, ~ V C F in

its constitutional statement highiighted conservative bzliefs in God's transcendence and

persona1 submission or surrender to the divine will. God's transcendent nature was

apparent in doctrines conceming the divine inspiration of the Bible, the -'presence and

57 Canadian Student 16, no. 4 ( 1 93 4). 1 07- 1 08; quoted in Kirkey, "Decline of Radical Liberal Protestantisrn," 28. 38 William R. Coleman, "Some Reflections of the Place of Theology in the Canadian SCM," paper presented to the SCM Leadership Training Programme, 29 Augst - 5 September 1973, Toronto, SCM UCA, box 84- 136, file 14. Accordin; to Donald Kirkey, in the 1920s SCM mernben held "a simple faith in the goodness of man, the immanence of Cod, the inevitability of progress, and the efficacy of education." But faced with the depression, fascism and potential rnilitary conflicts in Europe and the Far East some began to search for "a God of power, one divorced fiom the world of sinfiil man." Kirkey concludes that in the 1930s nvo noticeabte streams developed: one group of students continued to emphasize the social gospel and the critical study of lesus' life, while another group, more frrmly rooted in the church, advocated a "moderate liberalism" or an orthodox theology. Kirkey, "Decline of Radical Liberal Protestantism." 26-27, 29. Likewise Catherine Gidney points to the graduation of war veterans and the hgnentation of the social gospel movement in the late 1920s and early 1930s as factors contributing to a shift towards conservativism. Gidney, "Poisoning the Student Mind?" 8- 1 1. Paul Axelrod notes a greater conservativism among students generally with the onset of the Depression. Axelrod, Making A Middle Clas, 98.

potver of the Holp Spirit." and the expected culmination of history in the '*glorious

appearing of the great God and our Saviour. Jesus Christ." Moreover IVCF'S doctrinal

staternent. likely in reaction against the SCM'S emphasis on Jesus' hurnanity. underscored

Christ's deity and used the traditional titles "Saviour" and -'Lord" to represent their

msrnbers' intent to -submit7 to him. Various rvc~'ers echoed this characterization of the

human-divine relationship. For example. a student from western Canada wote in the

1932- 1933 academic year that during an IVCF conference held by their university group,

"the imzr circle of our Fellowship . . . faced the uncompromising daim of Christ to

absolute surrender - to the lening go of thar hidden 'something' which holds a man back

from entire obedicncr to His v~ice." '~

Anothcr difference between the statements of purpose of the two movements was

the sstent to which the) were open to inclusive and ecumenical ideals. IKF. though

iiopehl to attract studcnts frorn vanous backgrounds to its cause, gave no clear indication

of \\-ho was welcorne in its membership. The SCM'S "Basis and Aim," in contrast. stated

that al1 students were wAcome to join, so long as they were interested in testing whether

Jesus' life and reachinç had any bearing on their lives and understanding of God.

Likwise. the SCM intended to "unite" students across Canada and then to tink them with

similarly-mindsd students in other parts of the world. The schr valued inclusivism and

ecumenism, whereas IVCF, as has been noted in the discussion of its historical roots, kvas

critical of the schr's (and the SVM'S) interest in these areas to the neglect of doctrine.

;9 Noel Palmer. "Report fiom the Colleges and Schools," February 1933, NA, box 1, file "Histol of the ivF in Canada ( 193 1-36)..' See aIso newslener, ( 1 937-391, IVA, box 1, file "Material of Historic lnterest (1937- 59):. ;.

A final difTerence between the statements related to the rnovements' contrasting

approaches to addressing the religious needs of students. The SCM' by emphasizing that

students should "understand Jesus" and -'test the tmth" of the SCWS convictions.

demonstrated an intellectual approach. Thus general secretary Murray Brooks. expanding

on the scbt's "Basis and Aim," strongly recomrnended that the movement attune itseif ro

"the best scholarship." especially in the fields of religion and education. -'Any Movement

with students," he rxplained, "that encourages sloppy or superficial thinking will never

meet with great ~ u c c e s s . ' ~ ~ IVCF. on the other hand. in its aims ro bring students to

"personal faith" in Jesus and to "deepen and strengthen" their **spiritual life," displayed a

more pietistic approach. This leaning was succinctly expressed by an KCF secretary in

1938: '-We firmly believe that the students [sic] primary nred is not intellectual but

moral. and so adapt our programme.'4' Thus. the secretary applauded the efforts of the

McGilI IVCF in 1935-39 in its "determined effort to make Christ knonn" rather than

"spending tirne on theological debate or social cri t i~ism. '~ '"

Beyond the staternents of purpose. another difference u-as that I K F and the SCM

associared with quite dissimilar individuals and organizations. IYCF soughr speakers and

advisors from the business and acadrmic comrnunities, but frequently ministers and

rnissionaries filled this role. IVCF coveted die support of a numbrr of scholars and

wealthy businessmen, such as Dr. William Bell Dawson, ;Montreal retired scientist and

son of the eminent nineteenth-century geologist and McGill principal Sir William

40 Mumy Brooks, rnernorandum (confidential), ( 1 930 or 193 1 ?), XM UCA, bos 84- 14. Nationai Office Letter Book, 192 1-34, p. 128. 4 I Charles Troutman to John W. Taber, 3 I October 1938, r u , box 1. file "Material of Historic Interest (1937-59)." 42 Charles Troutman, annual report, 1938-39, rw, unlabelled box, file '-'3.4-'4 I ."

Dawson; Montreal mil1 ionaire A . J . Nesbitt, president of an investment firrn and various

public utilities companies and one-time board member of Chicago's bloody Bible

hstinite; and Dr. Frank Allen. head of the University of Manitoba physics department. In

Toronto, key links were formed benveen ~ V C F and evangehcal professors at Toronto Bible

College (rsc) and Wycliffe ~ o l l e ~ e . " ~ Ministenal contacts included Anglican Canon

Dpson Hague and Presbyterian Dr. John G. Inkster of ~ o r o n r o . ~ The Reverend Rowland

V. Bingham. editor of The Evangelical Christian, founder of the Sudan Intrrior Mission

(sisi) and organizer of the Canadian Keswick conferences, played an important role in the

formation of IVCF. Missionaries from the SIM and the China Inland Mission frequentrd

Inter-Varsity meetings' and reports of their endeavours were circuiated within the

rnovement ."' Some regional differences in IVCF'S associations were apparent. Contact in the

West uith evangelical members of mainline denominations existed, but other supponrrs

of IVCF carne fiom fûndarnentalist institutions such as the non-denominational E h

Chapel in Winnipeg. founded and pastored by millionaire Sidney mi th,^^ and, in

13 For èsarnple, TBC president John McNicol spoke on occasion to IvCF gatherings, and Professor T.LV. Ishenvood of Wycliffe sar on the fVCF Board of Directors in the early 1930s. For these and many other connections, see Donald, Sprrading Tree. Alvyn J. Austin has written an unpubtished bistory O ~ T B C . "'The Great Design': A History of Ontario Bible College," TMs. Thanks to Dr. Marguerite Van Die for loaning this manuscript. 44 inkster's church, Knox Presbyterian, had been one of the congrepations which resisted church union in the 1930s. S tackhouse, Canadian Evangelicalism, 250. 4s On the China inland iMission in Canada, see Austin, "The Transplanted Mission: The China Inland Mission and Canadian Evangelicalism," in Aspects of the Canadian Evangelical Erperience, ed. Rawlyk, 35 1-368. 46 British student evanjelist Howard Guinness, after meeting Smith in Winnipeg in 1929, described Elim Chapel in his diary as "a very srrong centre for Fundamentalists in Winnipeg." Howard Guinness, diary, 9- 10 Febmary I939, IVA, unlabelled box. Sidney Smith's influence was far-reaching in both business and religion: ht was the president of Reliance Grain Company, was twice the president of the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. was the Director of several American and international corporations, speculated in oil and jas. was on the boards of both ibioody Bible Instinite (Chicago) and Dallas Serninary, organized Bible Conferences in the U.S.A., and in 1925 was the president of the World's Christian Fundamentalist

Calgary. rhe Prophetic Bible Institute founded by Alberta's Social Credit premier.

William ~berhm. ' l ' But rvcF, decidedly resistant towards aspects of fundamentalism.

exercised caution in these associations. In Winnipeg. several Elim Chape1 members

including its pastor. Sidney Smith, were nominated along with members of Baptist,

United. .Anglican. and Brethren churches to sit on an ~ V C F advisory committee. "We are

out to get people [rom al1 churches into the group," mused the local I V ~ F secretary. "and

Elim to most of them is the last ~ o r d . ' ~ ' When conflicts occurred in Edmonton between

the local IVCF committee and the '-more extreme eiements of the fundamentalist wing,"

the KCF general secretary instructed that British Columbia should be the focus of the

western Canadian ivork in the following Far.J9

IVCF also associated with the Keswick movement, which originatrd in Britain in

the 1870s. This movement consisted of conventions, held usually in a scrnic

environment. where personal holiness was promoted through a process of 'consecration'.

or total surrender of one's will to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the filling of one's life

with the power of the Holy spirit? In addition Krswick promoted evangeiisrn and

missions. In Canada, Keswick conventions, at which sorne WCF secretaries assisted, were

held in the bluskoka district nonh of Toronto and were organized by the Reverend

- -- - -

Association. D. Bruce Hindmarsh, "The Winnipe; Fundamentalist Network, 19 1 O- 1 9.10: The Roots of Transdenominationai Evangelicalism in Manitoba and Saskatchewan," in Aspecrs ofrhe Canadian Evangelical Erperience, ed. Rawlyk, 303-308. J 7 Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, report, 16 November 1937, IV;\, box 3 file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." On Aberhart, see chap. 2 of Stackhouse, Canadian Evangelicalism. as Cathie Nicoll to C. Stacey Woods, report. 3 March 1938, [VA, box 3, file "Cathie Nicoll, Winnipeg." To Nicoll. hu r Elim members who were well-known, educated and proficient in pursuits outside of the church were mors Iikely candidates than Smith. 49 General secretary's report, IVCF Executive Committee minutes, 25 May 1937, lV.4, Filin; Cabinet, Binder Winutes, Esecutive Committee of the Board, 1936-1940." Four members of the local cornmitres resigned as a result of these conflicts. For another example, see C. Stacey Woods to Jirn Forrester, 4 February 1938. iva, box 3, file '"'Jirn Forrester, W. Canada."

Rowland V. Bingharn. Moreover. British-bom IVCF leaders active in Canada. such as

Howard Guimess, Nor1 Palmer and Cathie Nicoll. brought their esprrience of the British

Keswick with them. Indeed, elements such as the promotion of personal piety and the

theme of surrendering one's will to Chnst were contained in WCF'S philosophy. But the

IVCF Executive Committee took care to ensure that IVCF maintained an identity distinct

fiom Keswick by insisting that IVCF give no officiai sponsorship of the Keswick

conventions.' ' In addition. IVCF maintained a friendly relationship with the Arnerican League of

Evangelical Students (LES), which had been founded by a nurnber of Princeton

theologians (including the well-knorvn and outspoken J. Gresham Machen) out of a

concem to defend Christian onhodoxy. While ~ V C F appreciated the efforts of the LES.

leaders occasionally expressed regret at its overly intellectual approach and consequent

neglect of evangelism. Soon after arriving in Canada from Britain in 1 975. Howard

Guinness attended an LES conference in Chicago; he recorded his impression that '-dead

theology is srifling the ~ e a ~ u e . " " In 193 5 . an LES representative found i t necessary to

explain to the ~ V C F general secretary that the LES did not considcr '-apologetics and soul-

winning" to be opposites. "To put it tersely." the LES leader said. '-wr belirve that

without a healthy apologetic there c m be no healthy e~an~e l i s rn . "~ ' ~ V C F nonetheless

considered its pietistic approach to students to be more effective. But the LES was an

50 For an analysis of the Keswick rnovement in Britain, see Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Mudern Brirain, chap. 5. and Marsden, Fundamen~alism and Arnerican Culture, 77-78. s I John R. Howin to Rowland V. Bingham, 2 ApriI and 18 May 1936, and Rowland V. Bingham CO John R. Howitt, 30 April 1936, [VA, box 3, file "Executive Committee." 52 Howard Guinness. diary, 8-10 December 1928, r u , unlabelled box. 53 Calvin Knox Cumming to C. Stacey Woods, 28 February 1935. IVA, box 3. file "League of Evangelical Students 1925-35."

important . b e r i c a n associate at l e m until the grow-th of an Amencan IVCF out of the

Canadian IVCF in the late 1930s.'~

IVCF also linked itself to similar student movements in other countries.

Commencing in 1934. [VCF either supported or participated in international conferrnces

of evangelical s t u d e n t ~ . ~ ~ These conferences. which aimed -?O unite and strengthen the

National Evangelical Unions" and -'to seek by a11 means arnongst students in al1 the

countries of the world to stimulate persona1 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to hnher

svangelistic work." reflected IVCF'S evange lical identity.j6 IVCF also depended on British

Inter-Varsity Press and Scnpture Union publications and made referencc to British

evangelical scholars in their Bible study outlines."

Many of the scxr's associations differed considerably from [vcF's. The SC>(

welcomed various liberal Protestant academics as advisors and speakers, including Henry

Burton Sharman. for a short term a professor of the University of Chicago: S.H. Hooke. a

professor of Oriental Studies at Victoria College, Toronto; J. King Gordon. son of the

Presbyterian minister and novelist Charles Gordon (pen-narned Ralph C o ~ o r ) and briefly

54 A number of the first Arnerican IVCF chapters were forrnerly LES chapters. At least one Canadian secreta-. Charles Troutman, came out of the LES (and Wheaton College, [ilinois). Minutes, Executit.e Cornminet: of the Board, 26 February and 28 April 1936, [VA, Filing Cabinet, Binder "Minutes, Executive Cornmirtee of the Board, 1936-1940," On the origins of the American IVCF, see chap. 3 of Keith Hunt and G Iadys Hunt, For Christ and rhe Universiry: The Sfory of Inter Varsiry Christian Fellow-ship of the U.S. .-Li/ 940-1990 (Downers Grove, III.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1991). or, for a briefer surnmary, Joel A. Carpenter, Revive Us Again: The Remvakening of American Fundamenrai ism (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, t997), 183, 207-208. 55 Douglas Johnson to C. Stacey Woods, 18 May 1936, VA, box 3, file " 1935-36 British IVCF (Constitution IFES)." The conferences culminated in 1947 in the formation of the International Fellowship of Evangeiiczil Students (IFES), essentially an evangelical alternative to the WSCF. Lowrnan, Dqy ofHis Power, 79. 56 Douglas Johnson to C. Stacey Woods, 18 May 1936, rvii, box 3 file " 1935-36 British ~ V C F (Constitution IFES)." 57 Ibid., and Jirn Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, report, 20 January 1939, Victoria, IVA, box 4. file "Correspondence: Jim Forrester (Western Canada) 1938-39." In 1933, at IVCF'S fifth annual conference. a motion was made "that the Scripture Union be adopted as the officia1 reading of the IV & IXF during the

professor of Christian Ethics at United Theological College. Montreal; and Gregory

Vlastos. a professor at Queen's ~niversity.'~ J.S. Woodsworth. a former Methodist

rninister and later leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party. spoke at a

193 1 SCY meeting at the University of ~ a n i t o b a . ' ~ The involvement of Gordon and

Vlasros led the s c ~ naturally into association with the organizations founded by these

individuals: bo th were fo unding members of the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR).

and Vlastos was instrumental in the formation of the Fellowship for a Christian Social

Order (FCSO). Already in 1 93 1. brfore the FCSO had been organized oficialiy. the SCM

National Council expressed interest in this new movement and resolved to support it

through membership and merge "the general objectives of this Movement" into the SCM'S

150 programme. According to Roger Hutchinson, many FCSO members came from the

SC^' The FCSO shared with the scxr the beliefs that the current social problems

stemmed from religious issues and that, therefore. a religious response to the problrms

should be provided.

coming year." IVCF fifih annual conference minutes, 15- 18 September 193;. r u , unlabelled bos. file "A.H. 1933-34." i S Michriel Gauvreau makes brief reference to Hooke's beliefs in Evangelical Cenruv, 174-276. Vlastos' contributions among students are elaborated by George Rawlyk and in Quinn, i n - ~ h e Redeenied of rhe lord Sc^). So: .4 Histonl of Queen's Theological College i912-1972 (Kingston: Queen's Theo1o:icat College. 1980). 1 16- 1 17. For examples of the thought of Vlastos and Gordon, see chaps. 3 and 7 of Towardr the Chrisrian Revalufion, ed. R.B.Y. Scott and Gregory Vlastos (n.p.: Willett Clark & Co., 1936; reprint. Kingston: Ronald P. Frye & Co., 1989). 59 Peter Douglas, "A Family Photo of the United Church of Canada, Winnipeg, 1930" (h1.S.T. thesis, Universit). of Winnipeg, 1 WO), 9 1-92. 60

SC%{ NationaI Councit minutes, 1 1-14 and 23 September 193 1, SCM UCA box 83-94, file 1 1. 6 1 Roger Charles Hutchinson, "The Fellowship for a Christian Social Order: A Social Ethical Analysis of a Christian Socialist Movernent" (Ph.D. diss., Victoria University, 1975), 27-30. According to George Rawlyk and Kevin Quinn, Gresory Vlastos pushed the fairly conservative Queen's schr to a position where "it seemed like nothing short of a basic reorganization of society was their answer to pressing social issues." But the SCM "proved too ponderous and coniervative an organi&tion" for Vlastos* p;rposes, and he combined with other professors and clerg to fonn the F C S ~ . Rawlyk and Quinn, Redeemed ofthe Lord, 117.

The SCM also Iinked itself with student govemmenrs and other university

organizations and movements. Their policy in this regard was outlined by &e National

Executive Cornmittee in 1932: "The general opinion was against the SCM taking an>-

official part in college politics, but members of the KM should be encouraged to join

other progressive and constructive organisations and to add their weight in the

encouragement of a11 causes consistent %sith the aims of the Mo~ernent."~' In 1938. the

leadership recommended that the SCM cooperate "in al1 possible ways" n-ith the Wational

Federation of Canadian University Students (NFCUS). which had been founded in 1926. in

order that the scat might "affirm the freedom of religious eroups in university life at al1

points where the power vested in student governrnent abuses that tieedom." For similar

reasons they encouraged support of the Canadian Student Assembly (CS;\). which.

together with the Canadian University Press. had been foundrd a f er a Winnipeg SCM

conference in 1 9XL6' The SCM \vas also a member of the Canadian Youth Congress

(CYC), which, according to historian Paul Axelrod, \vas at the centre of a significant youth

movement in Canada in the latter half of the 1930s. The CYC'S agenda included world

peace and improved health and recreational and educational facilities for students? In

addition. SCM groups were encouraged in the latter 1930s to support unofficially various

62 SCM National Executive Cornmittee minutes, "Notes on Staff Conference." 1-6 June 1932, SCM LCA, box 84-56, file " 1932." 63 SCM National Council minutes. "Repon of Commission on 'Relationship~'.~' 1935. SCu UCA. box 81-94. Regarding the NFCL'S, the CSA and the Canadian University Press, see Aselrod, Making a .\/iddie Class. 128- 12 1 , 134, 143- 115. Also see CM NationaI Council minutes, 13- 15 Septernber 1930, SCM cc.4. bos 84- 94, file IO. & Axelrod. Making o Mid& Ciass, 13 1 . 13 4.

aoups promoting civil liberties and peace movements, such as the League of Nations - ~ o c i e ~ . ~ '

The SCM also associated with foreign student rnovements and religious presses.

From its outser the SCM pvticipated in the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF).

The WCF shared the SCM'S concern to promote ecumenism and social awareness. .A

speaker at a 19'8 WSCF conference in Jenisalem. attended by delegates of diverse

nationalities. denominations and theological leanings, observed "a great yeming

especially among the youth of the world for the full and untrammelled expression of

personality for spintual leadership and authority, for reality in religion, for social justice.

for human brotherhood. for international peace."66 The SCM also valued thc publications

of the British SCM press6' and frequently included the works of American liberal scholan

in its discussion groups.

In addition to maintaining connections with quite different individuals and

organizations, the two movements also diverged in their views of society. Both the SN

and KCF defined themselves in opposition to a perceived burgeoning secuiarism. or

indifferrnce to Christianity; but their interactions with this secularism divsrged. The SC.\!

in pan i.ie\\ved its role as prophetic; it was, in the words of one leader, &a searchlight to

constantly expose conditions and situations to the public view, where they couid be seen

and dealt with? As a solution to political, social, econornic and moral problems, the

b5 schi 'iational Council minutes, [1936], SCh! UCA, box 84-94, file 16, and scki National Council minutes. "Report of Commission on 'Relationships'," [1938], SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 18. 66 Murray Brooks, newsletter, 2 1 April 1928, SCM UCA, box 84-1 36, file 28. 67 Murray Brooks, general secretary's report, SCbl National Council minutes, 22 Ausust 1934, S C ~ I CCA,

box 84-94, file 14. 6g SCM Xational Esecutive Cornmittee minutes, 4-6 lune 1932, SCM UCA, box 84-56, file 932."

SCM offered .*the meaning and joy of the Christian life?' In 1929 the SCM general

secrerary issued a challenge that the SCM "assert with greater emphasis than ever our

conviction that -Jesus t a s right'.'''O

From its strategic position on Canadian campuses, the SCM sought to confiont

socie~- ' s ignorance of Cbristianity. Its members did not find an-Ming particularly wong

with universin, and college curricula, except that religious questions were being reiegated

or suppressed. '-Graduates can scarcely consider themselves qualified to leave the

unil-ersip," declared one official publication in 1939, "until they have considered the

claims of religion in the same fashion and with the same determination as they consider

the claims of science. philosophy. psychology, etc."" According to one leader. the SCN

stood alone arnong student organizations in the work of cornbatting the 'religion' of

secularism through a presentation of the pervasiveness of Chnstianity:

The Student Christian bIovernent is the only body that is undertaking to demonstrate on the university carnpusctî the part religion plays as the integating force in the lives of individuals and societies. To the Movement. then. falls the task of keeping ever before the Canadian student body the fact which Dr. [Reinhold] Niebuhr pointed out, 'the crisis in the world to-day is not merely a clash of rival political, economic. and social s> stems; i t is hndarnentally a clash of cultures - and, in the last analysis. a conflit of - -# rival religious faiths'. -

The s c ~ . ivithin the contrxt of higher education, competed with expressions of

secularism for the loyalty of Canadian students. For example, in opposition to

materialism the movement hoped to demonstrate that "life does not consist in an

abundance of things that one may possess but in a perfect relationship to one's fellow-

- - --

69 SC>! Sational Council minutes, [ 19;7]. KM KA, box 84-94, file 17. 70 sc%r National Council minutes, 7-1 1 September 1979, SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 9. 7 1 "Student Christian Movement in the University of Toronto News Bulletin," 3, no. 2 (hfarch 1939), UTA. B79-0059. box 1 S. file "SCM in U of T News BuIIetin." '' Ed Lure. 1938. quotcd in Dale, T w e n - O n e Years -4-Building. 39.

7 7 7 3 men and to God. . . . The SCM thus determined to search out the perceived weahesses

and pitfalls of modem society and to solve them through religious. specifically Christian.

principies.

KCF leaders characterized the university or college sening and the spical

Canadian student in much more negative tems. In 1939. one secret-; described the

University of Alberta as a "fume pit of intellectual paganisrn" and the --most irrdigious"

campus he had visiteci.'" Likewise he characterized the majonty of studrnts as immature.

indecisive and overly idealistic. criticizing without coming to any conclusions or

expecting "some sort of universal verificationo' before supponing an idea. He psinted a

bleak picture: "They fil1 the world with philosophical skeletons and. pursuing a mirage

across the buming sands ofspeculation, finally add their own whitened Oones to the pile

of tragedy. T h q will not go to the oasis." The secretmy hoped thrit ~ V C F membsrs would

provide "experimental validation" to the scientifically-minded student that a relationship

- - with Jesus. the "oasis." brought certain. and vitality to one's life."

That the SCM and WCF differed in theology and philosophy \vas borne out

practically in the fact that the two groups kept to themselves and occasionaIIy criticized

sach other. Sources from 1929 to 1939 shed linle light on the SCM'S opinion of KCF. but

it is likely that thry viewed I V ~ F as part of the traditional Christianiy against which they

were reacting. Indeed, occasionally schi'ers stated their perceptions that 1Vc~'ers were

" Murray Brooks to SCM graduate memben. 24 January 193 1, SCM [JCA. box 84-14, National Office Lener Book 1921-34, p. 123. See also SCM National Executive Committee minutes, 4-6 June 1932, SCM CCA, box 84-56. file " 1932.'' 74 Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, report, 7 March 1939. IVA, box 4, file "Correspondence: Jim Forrester (Western Canada) 1938-39." " Jim Forester, lener. [ 19393. [VA, bon 4, file "Correspondence: Jim Forrester (Western Canada) 1938- 39."

fundarnentalists or overly pious. For example, ~ V C F evangelist Howard Guimess

recordrd in his diary being called a -'book-worshipper" (a reference to evangelicals' virw

of the Bible's authority) by SCM leaders in or ont o.'^ Only days after the formation of an

WCF groc? at the University of Toronto the local SCM leader described them as

"fundamentalist." He appears to have used this terni because of the WCF members'

decision to form a distinct group, and voiced the opinion that since evangelical students

were "quite welcome" in the SCM as long as they were willing "to livr and let live." a

.'new organization" was unnecessary. This schi leader pointed out that. unlike the

supposedly "fundarnentalist" IKF, -.no single term" was adequate to characterize the

S C Another schi'er likewise reminisced that in the 1930s IVCF "appealed to the

Christian pietists and fundarnenta~ists."~~

That the KM was defensive towards IVCF is understandable. Almost everywhere

that new evangelical groups emerged. an SCM group already existed. "On every campus.

practically," noted IVCF'S first generai secretary in 193 1, "the Student Christian

Movement is the ofticially recognized organ of the religious life of the University. An)-

new society is irnmediately liable to the suspicion that it is cornpetitive, controversial. or

othenvise undesirab~e."'~

76 Howard Guinness, diary, I 2 Decernber 1928, [VA unlabelled box. 77 Rev. F.J. Moore, quoted in article, "New Movernent is Fundamentalist, says Organizer." Varsip. 18 January 1929, attached to correspondence fiom Rev. H.B. Bonsall, IVA, unlabeiled box. 7s William R. Coleman. "Some Reflections of the Place of Theoiogy in the Canadian KM." paper presentrd to the SCM Leadership Training Programme, 29 August - 5 September 3 973, Toronto, scsi UCA, box 84- 136, file 23. 79 Noel Palmer, "Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," Ms [draft]. [193 1). [VA, unlabelled box, fik "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 1. For examples, see Gidney, "Poisonin; the Student blind?" 1 1, 15- 16. Phillips, " W ~ F in Western Canada," 1 19, and "Two Sides to Every Question," University of Alberta I V ~ F tract, 1 936, IVA, unlabelled box, file "'34-'4 1 ."

Likely as a result of their 'underdog' statu. IVCF said a great deal about die scxi.

It is significant in understanding early N C F cnticism of the schr that a number of IKF'S

first leaders came out of the British Inter-Varsity movement which had recently split from

the British schi. Howard Guinness. for examplr, typically referred to scbi'ers as

"modemists" and was very explicit about his interest in gaining "a foothold" on campuses

whcre the SCM c~isted.~' WCF's firsr general secretary. Noel Palmer. had been a secretary

of the Oxford Cniversity SCM in 19 19 when he had undergone a profound religious

experience and. in the nest year. had helped to f o m an evangelical group distinct from

the Oxford SCU" These leaders' sspenences with the SCM may have predisposed them

and, by association. the Canadian KCF, to entertain a cornpetitive attitude towards the

SC b1.

This compctitiveness persisted throughout the l%Os. In 1934, WCF general

secrrran C. Staccy Woods publicly debated Canon Lronard A. Dixon, the Toronto s c ~

secretay on the raiciarz d'érre of the newer movement. Woods advocated that IVCF'S

rsisrsnce was jusrified in view of its distinctively onhodox view of the Bible; apparently

Dison conceded this point." In the latter 1930s IVCF leaders applauded the possibility in

Victoria and Guelph rhat the local SCM units, composed largely of evangelical students.

rnight officially connect with I V C F . ~ ' The impression is lefi that the two movements, and

especially IVCF, were contesting for student loyal ties.

30 Howard Guinness. diary, 8 November 1 928, [VA, unlabelled box. See aIso Phillips, 'wCF in Western Canada." i.e. p. 342. 9 1 Donald. Spreading Tree, 17- 1 S. " Woods. Gro~~rh of a Work of God, 45. 33 Jirn Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, reports, 30 Decernber 1937 and 2 hlarch 1938, NA, box 3, file "lim Forrester. W. Canada," and Belva Atkinson, report, 25 February 1939, IVA, box 4 , file "Correspondence: Belva Atkinson (Ontario) 1938-39." For other IVCF impressions of the SCM, see Jim Forrester to C. Stacey

The distinction betsveen WCF and the SCM was defined in more detail by IVCF'S

first general secretary, Noel Palmer, in 193 1. Palmer perceived three major diffcrences

between the two movements. Firstiy. the SCM held to a liberal theology ivhich ruled out

evangelicai belief and experience. rven as it claimed to be scientific and ~~en -minded . ' ~

He hoprd that r v c ~ would demonstrate. in contrast to the SCM. that testing Christianity

through .-unresen-ed surrender" of one's life to Christ was --more ~cientific."~' Secondly.

he regarded the SCM'S intellectual approach to be not only unscientific but unrealistic: it

obscured human sinfulness and alienation from God and thus prevented students from

reaching a deeper level of Christian experience. He esclaimcd that in contrast it [vas

"better to have even the crudest mental pictures with a genuinc knowledgr of God than to

be a polished heathen and not to know ~ o d . * ' ~ ~ His final disagreement uith the SCAI

concerncd irs lack of clearly defined conditions for membership. The SCM'S basis of

membership consisted of "generalizations which any person religiousiy inclinrd mighr

well sign"; thus full rnembership and even leadership positions were estended to srudents

who were --net hungry for pardon and peace with ~ o d . " ~ ' Rather than mirroring the

SCM'S seemingly endless discussion of religious and social questions. which Palmer

Woods, report, 29 Ocrober 1937, IVA, box 3. file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." and Cathie Nicoll, report, 4- 18 F e b n i q 1939, lV.4, box 4, file "Correspondence, Cathie Nicoll (Manitoba) 1933-39."

Noel Palmer. '.Our Relationship to the Studenr Christian Movemenr,'. Ms [drrifi]. [ 193 I 1. W.&, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer." 6-7. Palmer clarified that the schr as an orgrniution [vas nat to blarne for its "unscientific" openness, but rather the university professors with which the SCM associatzd. 85 NoeI Palmer, untitled Ms [draft], [l93 11, ]VA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Soel Palmer." 16 Noel Palmer, "Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," Ms [drafif. [193 I l , [VA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 8, 10. Page nurnbers in the original are incorrect fiom page eight onwards. 37 [bid., 1 1 - 12.

called a .-nervous mutrality." ~ V C F should promote obedience to ~ o d . * * Thus Palmer

defined WCF in opposition to scht emphases.

Yet Palmer also talked of the SCM in more cooperative rems. He recognized the

value of somz features, such as the SCM'S comprehension of modem youth. its practicality

concerning the issues of modem society, its emphasis on scholarship. and its focus on

Jrsus as a topic of studys9 This moderation in his treatment of the SCM raises a question

as to tvhether the two movements were actually closer together than the above differences

would suggest. Indeed, notwithstanding profound differences. a variety of similarities

and shared emphases also emerge from the statements by which each movement defined

its origins and goals.

First of ail. the perspectives of SCM and IVCF leaders on their historical mots

overiapped. Representatives of boih movernents. eager to give their respective

movements a sense of 'tradition' or credibility, in effect traced influences back to the

sanie network of tum-of-the-century student movements. The Student Volunteer

Movement and the British SCM figured prominently in the histories of both the SCM and

~ K F . Both Canadian movemenrs also saw themselves as having protested against

elsments of this legacy of student activisrn.

Besides these historical influences, the SCM and IVCF s h e d a few other

associations. Since the college or university campus was the main context in which the)

operated, both movements sought to have good relations with university administrators.

.A commission of the scxr National Council encouraged leaders to "strive continually to

cultivate berter understanding between the $chi and University Administration." In part

this amicability was seen as a n e c e s s q precursor to the SCM-S perceived task of

pressuring administrators to confiont campus problems.90 I ~ C F , ofien the .underdog' to

the older SCM." was not so concemed with official recognition as it was with clemency.

General secretary %el Palmer wmte in 193 1 : "It is wise and tmly Christian to pay

scrupuious attention to al1 laws of the school or college. to show every proper respect for

the authorities. and to let thern know what goes on - do nothing under cover. But if we

have thcir tacir approval. or at ieast toleration, we do noi need more."92 Though the SCM

felt more securc. ultirnateiy both groups wre at the rnrrcy of administrators. The SCM.

for ssample. in the sarly 1920s had been rehsed admission at McEvIaster University. a

campus which for a decade had been undergoing Fundarnentalist-liberal conflicts arnong

professors and a~ministrators.~~ This contrasted with the tolerance displayed towards

both student movements at Queen's University. whose president, R.C. Wallace. in the

latter portion of the 1930s sat on the Queen's SCM'S Xdvisory Board and chaired the

National SCM for one rem; rneanwhile he met with WCF leaders at Queen's and offered

thrm the sarne rights and privileges as the local SCM Such administrative interest

and involvement. however, was unusual.

Y9 Ibid.. 2-5. M "Report of Commission on 'Relarionships'," SCM National Council minutes, 1938, SCM CC:\. bos 84-94. 91 On the antagonism of the Principal of Wesley College, Winnipeg, towards ivcF see Cathie Nicoll. reports. 13-23 and 22-28 October 1937. [VA, box 3, file "Cathie Nicoll, Winnipeg." 92 Noel Palmer, "Our Purpose, Programme, & Problems," Ms [drafi], [193 11, IVA, unlabelled box, file "Histoq - the Rev F. Noel Palmer." 9; Kirke!.. "Building the City of God," 149- i 50. Instead, the university's chancellor irnposed a "Christian Union" which joined the YMCA and YWCA branches and the Student Volunteer Band. For more on the controversy at ~Mcblaster, see Rawlyk, "A.L. McCrimrnon, H.P. Whidden, T.T. Shields, Christian Education. and McMaster University," in Canadian Baptisis and Christian Higher Edircarion. ed. Rawlyk (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1985), 3 1-62. Y 4 Reid E. Vipond. '-st>t at Queen's University, 1933-1939," and Charles Troutrnan, Ontario repon, [1937- 381. l i ' .~. box 3, file -'Charles Troutrnan, QG." According to the latter report, Wallace believed that IVCF .'was taking a pan ~ v h i c h the SCM could or would not take."

Churches constituted yet another significant association which the and i YCF

shared. Atternpts were made by both movements to be on amiable t e m s with as man'

churches as possible. The SCM recorded in 1937 that it depended on partncrship with

churches and could more readily do so than in the previous decade because die churches'

.'liberal and progressive element" was growing.95 An IVCF secrefary reponzd from

Calgary in early 1939 that he had intrrviewed various clergymen and had gained the

"definite interest" of most. '*The United Churches are set againsr us." he said. *'but LW

have the r e ~ t . " ~ ~ Church leaders spoke at SCM and IVCF functions and sat on the

administrative cornmittees, and the student groups occasionall~ made use ofchurch

buildings. Moreover. undoubtedly in man? churches across the country students from

both movements participated together in church activities. For example. Sr. lames'

Anglican Church. situated near the Queen's University campus in Kingston. hosted both -

IVCF and SCM events and speakers.9'

Notwithstanding thesr contacts with churches, these groups sharsd a

determination to rernain independent of church controi. J. King Gordon. an intlusntial

leader in sckl circles, afler being released in 1934 from his professorship at United

Theological College in Montreal expressed his agreement with .-\mericm schoizrs

Reinhold Niebuhr and Hamy Ward that the church senred vested interests and that the

9s "Notes on Staff Conference," SCM National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 4-6 junri 1932, SC>! ccx, bos 84-56, file " 1932." % Jim Forrester, report, 27 March 1939. ]VA, box 4, file "Correspondence: Jim Forrester (Western Canada) 1938-39." The "rest" meant Anglican, Presbyterian, and Baptist.

97 David Lyon, Living Stones: SI. James ' Chtrrch, Kingston (Kingston: Quarry Press, 1995). 10;. Lyon as well as George Rawlyk and Kevin Quinn. in Redeemed ofthe Lord (p. 1 17). contend that the SCM goup at Queen's was more conservative theologically than the national organization. which helps to expiain St. James' affinity with both student movements. But the fact that both movernrints drew msmbers from mainline denominations such as the United Church suggests that scxr and rvcF mernbers rnay have worshipped together on Sundays on a regular basis.

task of social change was left to 'prophetic rnin~rities."~~ Undoubtedly he viewed the

Student Christian Movement as one of these minorities. Similar to Gordon's sentiment.

IVCF general secretary C. Stacey Woods codided in early 1938: "Somehow or other 1

feel that the hture of the church of God to sorne extent at least lies outside the organized

denominations. and that if young people are to be reached it wiII perhaps be along the line

of our present anack only developed more thoroughly and fu11y."99 Both movements

essentially aimed to work in tandem with the denominations s-hile, at the same time, the.

viewed themselves as the more progressive and prophetic elements of Chnstianity.

Both WCF and the SCM also associated with the Y,M/YWCA'S. The SCM, formed

partly in reaction against these more traditional organizations. still aimed to be on frirndly

terms with them. In 1 934, an SCM commission studied the movement's relationship wi th

the YWYWCA'S and reponed that discussions "had resulted in a much bener

understanding and more cordial r e l a t i o n ~ h i ~ s . " ~ ~ ~ The KM also made use of yx1c.4

facilities. such as its camp at Lake Couchiching, ~ n t a r i o . ' ~ ' The Ykrca opcned its doors

ais0 for IVCF function~.'~' Likewise. current or retired YMCA secretaries occasional!y sat

on IVCF*S Executive ~ommit tee . '~ ' It is significant that both campus groups associated

with these important, longstanding Christian organizations.

Both movements reacted with ambivalence to the Oxford Group movement. a

moralistic crusade operating on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean which toured Canadian

Y9 Hutchinson, "Fe1 lowship for a Christian Social Order," 27-28. 99 C. Stacey Woods to Jim Forrester. 6 January 1938, [VA, box 3 file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." 100 SCM National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 16 April 1934, SCM UCA, box 84-56. 10 1 Reid E. Vipond, "SCM at Queen's University, 1933-1939." 102 Belva Atkinson, weekly report, 6-1 3 November 1937, IVA, box 3, file "Correspondence Belva Atkinson, ON," 103 See Donald: Spreading Tree, 139- 140.

cities in 1932 and 193.104 On the one hand according to one SCM member. this

movement which advocated personal confession of 'sin' and cornmitment to virtues of

honesry. purity. love. and unseltishness in terms not specifically Christian. chalienged

schr'ers across Canada "to look squarely at one's life and to seek anew that which is

basic." On the other hand, this SCM member perceivrd that the Oxford Group

movenicnt's popularity \vas based on a ciear departure from the scxr's socially critical

mandate: -'The demands of this group calling men and women to focus their energies on

contemplation and the devotional life seemed to have more appeal to rnany more students

[han did the ngorous demands of the scat leadership for students to become engrossed in

seeming l y insurmountable national and pol itical problems."'Os The Osford Group

movemcnt. for a tirne, appears to have turned the attentions of ers inwarcis, in a sense

challenging the sc\i's self-definition. However, another smt'er wrote that although the

Oxford Group's high standards of living impressed SCM members. generally the SCM

frowned on '-its too great dogrnatic assurance and its lack o f emphasis on Christianity as

applied to social. national and international affair~.""~ Equally ambivalent. the WCF

grneral secretan. ar IVCF'S annual conference in l 9X , noted briefly that "during the past

)-car u.e have had other groups corne into our midst, such as the Oxford Group. . ." and

advised that Inter-Varsity should not make any "de finite c o ~ e c t i o n " with the

10-8 For an analysis of the Oxford Group blovement's influence in Canada, see Marshall, Secnlarking the Fairh, 205-206,2 13-22?. 1 OS Peter Paris, "Report on SCM of Canada," pt. 2, Ms, August 1965, SCM UCA, box 84-80, file 8, pp. 22-33. 106 Dale, Twenry-One Years A-Building, 334. Donald Kirkey likewise asserts that SCM leaders were "quite uncornforrable with the othenvorldliness, the emotionalism, the public confession and the rdiancs on divine guidance cbat were part of [the] Oxford Group Movement and its meetings" but suggests that after the movement's decline students were more open to traditional religious practices. Kirkey, "Decline of Radical Liberal Protestantisrn," 18, 19.

movement. 'O7 Thus each student movement saw positive points of connection behveen

itself and the Oxford Group, but at the same time, the SCM objected to the Croup's

individualism and IVCF insisted on maintainhg its independence.

Both the SCM and WCF aimed to be interdenominational in their memberships.

Since neither movement kept detailed membership records. a clear assessrnent of the

background of members is dificult to make. The scar made only a few referenccs to irs

denorninational make-up' but these suggest that the scxr found only limited success in

achieving its ecumenical goal. One former SCM mernber recalled meeting individuals in

the SCM with backgrounds ranging from sectarian conservatives to theology students in

church-sponsored colleges to agnostics and atheists. but made no referencr to sprcific

denominational backgrounds.10s It is also evident that the membership varird betwveen

scxi units. The University of Saskatchewan's SCM group. for esample. included

consemative evangelical students at least until the formation of an IKF group in 1 939.Io9

But elsewhere in Canada the SCM'S ecurnenism did not always estend to conser\.ari~es."~

Some outsiders associated the SCM with the United Church of Canada. an

observation which suggests that a p o d percentage of its membcrship came tiom this

denomination. ' ' ' A student who had lefi the SCM recalled that the movement -.\vas

1 O7 lVCF fifih annual conference minutes, 15- 18 September 1933, r u , unlabzlled box. file "A.H. 1933-34."

1 O8 "Reflections on SCM - Tillman," [1947-48?], SCM KA, box 84-1 1. file 2. 109 Phillips, "IVCF in Western Canada," 34 1. ] t a One student. Arthur Hill, recalled that, while attending an sch1 study of Jesus' life based on liberal theologian Henv B. Sharman's books at the University of Western Ontario in the latter 1910s. he was told that "there was really no room" in the SCM for his traditional views. Hill persisted and even becarne a leader, but after Funher theological disageernents he left. Arthur Hill to Charles Troutman, 17 January 1950, [VA, unlabelled box, file "A.H. 1933-34." Eventually Hill and other students joined WCF. and Hill became [VCF's general secretary for a short term in 1933. Donald, Spreading Tree. 50-52, 139- 144. "' While outside this study's tirne-fkame, one source from 1950 observed the fact that SCM units in western Canada were "composed almost e.uclusively of members of the United Church" and suspectsd the same of

recognized as the official mouthpiece for the United Church in the universities.*'"'

Another student's recollection aiso hinted that membenhip was dominated by United

Church studrnts: despite the scxi's ecumenical ideal. he said. the movement had '-rarelu

succeeded in appealing adequately to students of the hglican. Baptist and Presbgerian

traditions.""' Though sources are incomplete, a gap seems to have existcd between the

SCM'S ecumenical ideal and its actual membership.

IKF, like the SCM, sought to attract a wide range of denominational representation

in its membership. Denominations rncntioned by leaders ranged from the more

estabiished United. Anglican. Presbyterian, Baptist and Lurheran denominations to the

smaller and more conservative churches such as Salvation Army, Christian and

Mission. Alliance. Nazarene, Plymouth Brethren, and Mennonite. Also sirnilar to the

s c ~ , WCF's composition varied between regions. Leaders' cornplaints about

fundamentalist students, for example, came almost exclusively from wesrem

univenities.' ''' It is likely that western IVCF chapters and the constituencies which

supponed them consisted of a Iarger fundarnentalist proportion in comparison with

Ontario and Montreal. Both i v c ~ and the SCM, then, sought to attract students from

different denominational backgrounds and experienced variations in composition between

the Maritime units. Jim Puktley, "Reflections of a New General Secretary," 1 lanuary 1950. SCM LCA, bos 83-10, file 34, p. 4. "' Anhur and Mrs. P. Hill. interviewed by Robert and Madge Paulene, cranscript, March 198 1. rv.4. unlabelled box, file "A.H. 1933-34." I I 3 Wilfred F. Butcher to Ernest Dale, 25 August 194 1, SCM UCA, box 84- 1 1 , file 1 . 1 I I See Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, report, 28 January 1938, [VA, box 3, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada" and C. Stacey Woods to Cathie Nicoll, 1 1 November 1937, [VA, box 3, file Tath ie Nicoll, Winnipeg"

rqions.'" Each. despite its daims to being interdenominational, in actual fact drew a

more narrowiy defined membership.

The SCM and IVCF also were sirnilar in what the. opposed. Both reacted to some

degres against traditionalism in the church: the scsr viewed conservative creeds as passé.

whereas WCF virwed them as in need of revitalization. Despite being at rimes caricatured

by th? scxr as 'fundamentalist'. WCF, in fact, deliberately distanced itself from what it

v iewd to be the negative aspects of hndarnentalism and thus shared some of the SCM'S

apprehensions about this conservative expression of Protestantism.

To begin u-ith. IVCF rejected what it perceived to be fundamentalism's torpid or

ineffcctual approach to religious life. A secretary reported from Vancouver in 1937,

"Thers is a dead weight of inertia here which sees every progressive step as too radical."

This "fins old world conservativisrn" would "end in conserving nothing"; instead. this

ûttitude indicated a -*denaturalizedV Christianity, one which had little relevancy to

socicty. ' l 6 WCF leaders specifically abhorred the perceived anti-intellectual spirit of

fundamentalism. According to a pamphlet used in the early 1930s. IVCF valued "exact

and unprejudiced sch~la r sh i~ . " '~ ' In the view of the first general secretary. I V C F ' ~ ~ ~ could

expect that God would expose their "minds and souk to real tests" as an engincer places

1 1 s While ivCF leaders viewed interdenominationalisrn to be an important goal, they were more concsrned to attract evangelical students. A secretary who reported corn Edmonton in 1939 that the local IVCF had become "more truly interdenominational" by attracting "United Church and Anglican interest" stated more specificalIy that these churches contained "some good evangelicais." Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, report. IS February 1939, [VA, box 4, file "Correspondence: Jirn Forrester (Western Canada) 1935-39." I l 6 Jim Forrester, report, 30 December 1937, I ~ A , box 2, file "Jim Forrester. W. Canada." I l 7 "Tht Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada," pamphlet. [early 1930~1, [VA, unlabelled box, file "NP. 1930-33." This attitude towards scholarship appears to have been consistent, at least at the national levei: in 193 8, the general secretary congratulated an Inter-Varsity secrebary in BC on achievinj a degree,

stress on steel. In response to anti-intellectualism, I V C F ' ~ ~ S should live "full-orbed" lives

by being equally aware of biblical teaching, the conclusions of natural science. and the

needs and opinions of h ~ m a n s . l ' ~ On occasion IVCF leaders recorded their fmstrations at

the irrationality or ciose-mindedness of certain fundamentalist rnembers. ' l g Although it

did not employ an avowedly intellrctual approach to students. WCF hoped to present its

evangelical message in an articulate and understandable way.

IVCF leaders likewise rejected fimdarnentalists' sectarian attitude. n-hich they

closely related to anti-intellectualism. "We respect the visible body of Christ." exclainird

the first general secretary, '-and deplore the sasy and consciencelsss way of breaking

fellowship and setting up new churches so prevalent among us to-da'." He accused

sectarians of hypocriticall y condernning modemism while entertainhg mo rc ~~subtle" and

"dangerous" heresies such as -.spiritual pride" and ~ ~ e s c ~ u s i v i s m . " ~ ~ ~ In arguing for a deep

sensitivity among I V C F ' ~ ~ S to the views of others, the secretary cautioned rhat members

"must stand for . . . no pretentious sham, no snobbery of any kind. nothing unmanly or

since this would "be of help in giving you standing in the ivork before smdents." C. Swcc) Woods to lim Forrester. 14 April 1938, IVA, box 3, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." I l8 Noel Palmer, "The Bible," Ms [draft], [ 193 1 1, [VA, unlabelled box, file "Histos - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," and idem. "An Address to the Toronto Inter-Collegiate Christian Union." pamphlet [transcript of address], [1932?], fini printed in Varsiry. 24 February 1932, ]VA, unlabelled box. in envelope from Muriel D. Lagomorsino. 3 l March 1987. Il9 In 1938 at the University of British Columbia, an IVCF secretary wote that some hindamentalist memben objected CO the "new sounds" and "new phrases" of IVCF'S presentation of Christianity. .'A linle bit of thinking about religion." the secretary elaborated. "is an unusual erercise for them. They like to listen to the old familiar platitudes. the hackneyed sentences that mean only repuonance in the minds of the majority of the unspiritual inrellecnials we are trying to reach." 1 im Forrester to C. Stace' Woods. repon. 28 January 1938, [VA, box 3, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." "' Noel Palmer. "Our Relationship to the Denominations." Ms [draft]. [l93 1). [VA. unlabelled bon. file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer." See also. in the same file, "Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," 15.

unwomanly. nothing false or hollow," but rather should possess "a g e a t big h e m of

hurnblest. honest love.""'

It should be noted then that IVcF's inclusion of a iist of doctrines in its statement

of purpose should not be construed as yet another expression of fmdamentalist efforts

staunchly to de fend conservative theological precepts. Generai s e c r e t q C . S tacey

Woods clarified that IVCF did not see its doctrinal emphases as a flag to bs saluted by

students but rather as an anchor which, in an emergency, could be "tossed overboard

really unseen or umoticed, to hold the Inter-Varsity ship fiom drifiing onto the rocks.

shallows and flats of spiritual ineffectiveness and paralysis."l" IVCF adhered to this

traditional creed out of a belief that it remained absolutely relevant and necessary for a

vital spintuality.

Thus both WCF and the SCM abhorred the dogmatism rvhich they found wirhin

church walls and reacted against the growing secularism of society. Essentially the SCM

and IVCF placed themselves between an ineffective Christian traditionalism and an

increasing indifference to Christianity and demonstrated an unwillingness to capitulate to

either side.

Neither movernent, moreover, wanted to appear to be highly reactionary; leaders

expressed hopes that their respective rnovements would be amicable forces on Canadian

'" Noel Palmer. *'Wimessing for Christ." Ms [drafl]. (193 I l , [va, unlabelled box, file *.History - the Rev F. NoeI Palmer." See also C. S tacey Woods, monthly report, November 1934, [VA, box 1. file "History of the IVF in Canada ( 193 1 -36)." "' Woods. Growh of a Work ofGod, 46. Woods recalled two occasions when leaders used the doctrinal statement in this capacity: a student vice-president of the McGill IVCF group was asked to resign because "he could no longer accept the Bible as God's infallibie Word," and the national office threatened 10 disaffiliate the University of British Columbia IVCF unit when it invited a "notorious" Awralian liberal minister to speak and ignored IVCF's insistence that the minister be asked to sign the docmnal statement. Ibid., 45, and C. Stacey Woods, interview by David Phillips, transcript, 10 November 1975, !VA, unlabelled box, fils "N.P. 1920-33" [rnisplaced?].

campuses. One SCM secretary insisted to the Executive Cornmittee in 1932 that the scWs

approach to students should be of a -.positive and constructive" nature.'" Likewise

oeneral s e c r e t q bMurray Brooks urged SCM leaders to present a positive message in a C

religious atmosphere which was kharged with haziness and ~ncertainty."'?~ The IVCF

ueneral secretary. in an address to the University o f Toronto i v c ~ in 1931, noted that there s

was --an intense longing for something positive" among students.

Both movements. in fact. viewed their efforts as an anempt to rejuvenats

Chnsrianity. IVCF. confronted, in the words of its general s ec r e tq , with "al1 the

superficial unbearableness of dogmas and authonty in religion," should direct studentso

attention to Jesus as the source of tme life.12' Elsewhere he stated: *'If there is one thing

certain about original Christianity, it is that it was alive. radiant. aggressive.

corqwring.""6 Likewise. an scbr brochure in 1929 advertised one of its conferences as

an opportunity to -*pet a fresh, vivid picture of Jesus as a great, vital wiming

personality.''''7 In the same year. the SCM general s e c r e t q expressed his conviction that

-'the religion of Jrsus" \vas able "to l if t men and womrn out of the conditions in tvhich

the. find themseives and to empower them to live the free, abundant, joyous livss that

God intended they should l i ~ e . " " ~ Notwithstanding their different interpretations of the

i 23 scxr National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 4-6 lune 1933, SCM UCA, box 84-56, file ' - 1 932." '" Murray Brooks. memorandum (confidential), [ 1930 or 193 l?], KM UCA, box 84-14. National Ofice Lener Book, 192 1- 1934, p. 138. '" Noel Palmer, '-An Address to the Toronto Inter-Collegiate Christian Union," pamphlet [transcript of addross], [1932?], first printed in Varsity, 24 February 1932, rvA, unlabelled box, in envelope fkom Miiriel D. Lagomorsino, 3 1 March 1987. '" Noel Palmer. *'Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," ivls [drafi], LI93 1). [VA. unlabelled box. file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 12- 13. ' Y Elgin House Conference brochure. 11-19 September 1929, SCM UCA. box 84-1 36. file ?O. l iS Murray Brooks to graduate SCM members, 12 March 1929, SCM UCA, box 84-14, National Omce Letter Book. 193 1-34. p. 90.

person and work of Jesus Christ. both the SCM and IVCF airned to direct studenrs to Jesus.

through whom they would fmd happiness and power for living in the modem worid.

This shared emphasis on the cen t ra l i~ of Jesus and on attracting students to

acknowledge him were reflected in the two movements' statements of purpose. .qlthough

they emphasized different aspects of his character, borh movements highlighted Jesus

Chnst as central to their self-definitions. Moreover, both groups viewed study and prayer

as important rneans by which students could "follow Jesus Christ" or -'deepcn and

strenaghen the spiritual life." Finally. each also stated its aim to espand its membcrship.

The SCM advocated two methods: welcorning into their membership studsnts "\villing to

test the truth" of the movement's beliefs about Jesus and joining witli those "of likc

mind" in other countries. IVCF promoted the task of 'witnessing'. or leading others "10 a

personal faith" in Jesus.

Finally, IVCF and the SCM made the effort at various points throughout rhe 1930s

to be on friendly terms or even to cooperate with each other. ~ V C F general secretan. Noel

Palmer encouraged 1vc~'ers to be congenial towards the s c d 2 ' He menrioncd that he

and SCM leaders had discussed the two movements' distinctives and had prayed tossther:

he had even conversed with one SC.\! sccretarv, Anglican Canon Leonard .A. Dison, about

a possible union of the two m~vernents."~ IVCF general secret-- C. Stace). Woods made

it his practice in his travels to "drop in to have tea" with local SCXI secretarirs; apparently

they jokingly greeted each other with the terms "fundamentalist" and "modemist."

Woods emphasized that ':the ability to maintain our distinctives without compromise and

'" Noei Palmer, .*Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," M s [drafi]. [ l93 11. IV.&. unlsbelled box, file .'History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 19. 130 Ibid.. 5. and untitled Ms [drafi], (195 11. NA. unlabefled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer."

at the same tirne to avoid rancour and bittemess was most important."13' Likewise. in

1934 SCM leaders attended the IVCF National Conference to discuss the relarionship of the

hvo movements, and in 1939 the scbr invited the chair of WCF's executive cornmittee to

sit on the SCM Board in .'a persona1 or representative capacity."'"

However. it appears also that in such instances of proposed cooperation IVCF and

the SCM preservrd their distinctiveness. After conversing with SCM secret. Canon

Leonard A. Dison about greater cooperation, WCF general secretaq Noel Palmer reflected

that the SCM would first need to demonstrate a cornitment to evangelical beliefs and

123 goals. Discussions at the IVCF National Conference in 1934 xith SCM representatives

arrived at the conclusion that the movements had divergent purposes and thus, in the

words of one person present, "there was no possible ground for an officia1 relationship.

although it was felt that there might be the warmest fiiendship and co-operation between

individuals in both organizations where occasion provided."'34 At McGill in 1938-39 the

SCM sought to work with rvCF but each group ultimately recognized that a compromise of

convictions would be nece~sa r~ . '~ ' In 1939, an SCM Committee at the University of

Toronto sought ~VCF'S invoivement in a university mission. The two groups were unabie

I j l C. Stacey Woods, interviewed by C. Tipp, transcript, 1973. [VA, unlabelled box, file '"34-'4 1 ," 5-6. Ij? IVCF sixth annual conference report, 20-75 September 1934, in the British IVFEU magazine. 7, no. 1 (Michaeimas Term 195 J), IVA, unlabelled box, file ".34-'4 1 ," and IVCF Executive Comminee minutes. 6 September 1939, IVA, filing cabinet, binder "Minutes, Executive Committee of the Board, 1936- 1940." 123 Noel Palmer, untitled Ms [draft), [193 11, IVA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Soel Palmer." 124 IVCF sixth annual conference report, 20-25 September 1934, in the British WFEU magazine. 7, no. I (Michaelmas Term 1934), [VA, unmarked box, fite "'34-'4 1 ." 13' Charles Troumian, annual report, 1938-39, [VA, unlabelled box, file "'34-'4 1 ." Cooperation also paled for the ivcF in light of the view that "the SCM is quite despised on the campus."

to agrec on a speaker. so the schr sponsored the event officially and two IVCF

representatives sat on the Comrninee. '36

It is evident that the SCM and ~ V C F viewed themselves as having a distinct service

to Canadian students. The SCM sought to gather students frorn many backgrounds into the

study of the life of Jesus and the application of his teachings to the construction of God's

kingdom on earth. The rnovement pnded itself on its inclusive and ecurnenical

principles. IVCF aimed to rally students around Christ as Lord and Saviour in order to

produce stronger Christians and more effective evangelisrn. The SCM in its endeavour to

follow Jesus engaged the results of liberal scholarship and the philosophy of the social

gospel. thereby placing emphasis on the use of the intellect. IVCF held to traditional

onhodoxy and claimed that this belief was verified through the Christian Me. the

surrender of one's will to Christ. These divergent purposes led the hvo groups to fonn

different associations: evangelical and fundamentalkt schools, missionaries and

rninisters in the case of IVCF, and radical liberal scholars and socialist and peace

rnovernents in the case of the SCM.

But? in retrospect, remarkable sirnilarities existed in the self-definitions of these

movements. They traced their historical roots to the same late-nineteenth-cenw student

evangelistic and missionary enthusiasm. They interacted in comparable ways with a

nurnber of organizations such as the YMCA, YWCA and Oxford Group movement;

rnoreover they both linked themselves with other student groups internationally. Their

local rnemberships consisted of sorne degree of representation fiom a wide spectrum of

156 Report of the Religion and Life Week Comminee, 1939, Student Christian Movernent (University of Toronto) Papers, University of Toronto Archives [hereaRer SCM UTA], B79-0059, box 23. file "SCM U of T Religion & Life Week 1939."

Protestant denorninations. Both movements placed themselves berneen a grorving

ineligiousness on the one hand and a dead or inarticulate orthodoxy on the other, and

were essentially hopeful of linking the two worlds of church and society by infusing the

churches with new life through energetic student witness and communicating the message

of Jesus to the secular world. Finally, attempts made by the two groups to cooperate

suggest that these were more than competitive organizations, but that they also

recognized areas of comrnon purpose.

CHAPTER 3

LAYING THE SPlFüTUAL FOUNDATION: STUDENT DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES

Worship is coming to have a more definite and central place in the Student Christian Movement. Forced back by the pressure of a worid which is hostile to Chnstianity, men and women are beginning to realize

their dependence upon ~ o d . '

In the midst of the scepticisrn and confusion of the University campus, the WCF has been a steadying and stimularing influence. The informal, hem-searching Bible studies, frequent times for prayer with Chrisrian students have meant so much to me. Above al1 1 have corne to know Christ better and to realize more full' that it is in Him - not in man's flights of philosophical specuiations - that there "are hid al1 the neasurss of

wisdom and kn~wledje ."~

The Student Christian Movement and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship shared

the belief that Jesus Christ was key to the salvation of a world which was seen to be

increasingly confused. sceptical and hostile towards Christianity. For these movemsnts a

major agency in saving the world would br students who were spiritually prepared to face

the challenges of modem society. Thus the respective programmes of the SCM and [VCF

on Canadian college and university carnpuses sought to facilitate this spintual

development of students.

Programmes to facilitate this goal consisted of three types: study. worship, and

Christian evangelization. S tudy included discussion groups and educational lectures.

Worship usually entailed prayer and/or singing religious songs. The spreading of the

distinctives of Chnstianity ranged fiom fnendship with other students to campus

' "Student Christian Movement in the University of Toronto News Bulletin," 2. no. I (November 1937). SCM UTA, 879-0059, box 15. file "SCM in U of T News BuIletin."

tvangeiism to iocal and international missions or development projects.

Leaders of both movernents saw these activities as crucial to the fuifillment of

dieir mandates. In the early 1930s sckr general secretary Murray Brooks described

"study. prayer and friendship" as -*the prirnary methods whereby men's lives may be

cnriched and the Kingdom of God be realised on earth."' Also in the early 1930s an IVCF

brochure likened this movement's programme to the care of one's physical body: "You

must have air to breathe-that is prayer. You must eat good food-that is the Bible.

You must esercise-that is witnessing and working for Christ. Without these threr, you

cannot be healthy: with them, you can hardly be ~ n h e a l t h ~ . ' ~ Through these activities

the schr and IVCF determined to nourish the Christian character of students in order to

prepare them to spread the Christian message more effectively. Specifically. meetings

designated for worship and study endeavored to focus students' attention on Iesus Christ

with the conviction rhat this would empower them for life and service. This chapter,

then. x i 1 1 look at the shaping of the student through devotional activity, and the following

chaptcr will anal yze the goal of this activity, namely Christian service.

Sources permit only an examination of public forms of devotion: the private reaim

remains at best elusive. But a comparison of the devotional activities of IVCF and the SCM

tests the rxtent to which their beliefs and philosophies filtered into practice. Moreover, a

number of important differences and similarities emerge: sources reveal that devotional

practices reflected the divergent theologies of the SCM and IVCF but also that both

- - - --

' ..A Lener from a Student to You," Mcûill ivcF pamphlet, [post- 19361, ~ V A , box 9. file YJniversity C hapters (Cdn) '36-'42." The biblical re ference is to Colossians 2:2-3. 3 Murray Brooks. memorandum (confidential), [1930 or 193 1?], SCM KA. box 84-14, National Office Letter Book, 192 1-34, p. 128.

"The Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada." pamphlet, [early 193OsI. IVA, unlabelled box. file "N.P. 1930-33."

movements, intent on understanding and relating to God. shared a concem to numire the

lives of students by encouraging time spent in Bible study and worship.

Both the SCM and IVCF considered a -relationship with Christ' to be the

hdarnental charnel of spiritual vitality. T3e scbi's statement of purpose declared the

rnovement's convictions that Jesus Christ was "the supreme rrvelation of God and the

means to the full realization of life" and that its members should se& to "understand and

follo\v" him.' Inter-Varsity's statement of purpose ernphasized the importance of

individual '-faith" in Jesus Christ as "~aviour ."~ IVCF generai secretary Nocl Palmer

wote in 193 1 that spiritual vitality was deepened through "constant disciplined

fellowship" with Jesus Christ through prayer and Bible study.'

The SCM and WCF also associated spiritual renewal wirh receptivsness to the Holy

Spirit. Howard Guinness. the British student evangelist who brought the concept of [\..CF

to Canada in 1928-29, considered his primary task to be to direct students "into the

frdhess of ihe Hobp Spiri[ 's power' (Guinness' ernphasis).s In 1 93 9 a travelling secretary

in Quebec who reponed growth in the influence of iVCF reiterated rhis belirf by srating

that "any work of rhis nature is done solely by the Spirit of ~ o d . " ~ Murray Brooks.

representing the Canadian SCM at an international Christian conference in Jerusalem in

1928, was impressed by the words of one of the conference's speakers. '-It is the

inescapable fact that the present spiritual life of the churches is not adequate to the task

5 SCM constitution, revised 1 1- 13 September 1933, schr UCA, box 84- 15, National Office Printed Materials

Scrapbcok. 1920-34. p. 8. A similar but informai staternent in regard to Christ was made by seneral secretary ~Murray Brooks in 1929. See SCM National Council minutes, 7- 1 1 September 1929, SCM GCA, box 84-94, file 9, p. 2. 6

lVCF Constitution, 1935-36, [VA, box 3, file "Executive Cornmittee Canada (Fellowship Constitution)." 7 Noel Palmer, "Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," Ms [draft], [193 11. I ~ A , unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 18. S Howard Guinness. diary. 7 November 1928, [VA, unlabelled box. 9 Charles Troutman. annual report, i February 1939. NA, box 4, file "Annual Report-Charlcs Troutman,

for which they rxist." The solution, needed urgently, was %e renewal of the life of the

church by a fresh inflowing of the Holy ~ ~ i r i t . ' ' ' ' ~

Because of this shared conviction both groups focused their programmes on

activities such as Bible study and worship which would guide students into deeper

devotion to Christ and a life of spiritual power. Both the scbi and IVCF gave a prominent

place to the study of the Bible. WCF'S first general secretary. Noel Palmer. w o t e in 1 93 1

that IVCF stood "prirnarily for the practical and spiritual study of the Bible with a view to

living the life it enjoins and promises." As the rays of the sun caused growth in a plant.

so the illumination which resulted from the study of the Bible produced spiritual growh.

The Bible was considered to be the basis of Christian belief and a guide for living.

Continual study of ir produced "an armoury of the soul" from which could be drawn

protection and help." Numerous former scbi'ers reminisced that the Bible study groups

were the most valuable SCM activity; according to one, the study of Jesus in the gospel

records of Marthew, Mark and Luke was ' ~ r u l y the foundation of the life of the

ovem ment."" Another SCM spokesperson prescribed the Bible as the "basic source" of

the movement's --inspiration and religious inf~rmation." '~ From the study of the Bible

flowed spiri tual sustenuice and vitality.

SC>! and WCF leaders employed a similar format for studies. The groups

generally were informal and discussion-based. Ideally this format allowed students who -

Quebec," 2 . IO Murray Brooks, newsletter, 2 1 April 1928, SCM UCA, box 84-136, file 28, p. 4. This parallels Grant Wacker's assertion that both liberal and conservative Protestants in the United States emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in the church. See Wacker, "Holy Spirit." II Noel Palmer, "The Bible," Ms [draft], [193 l j, IVA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 3-5. " Fredda Peden, rerniniscence. [194 1 1, XM UC.4. box 84- 1 1. file I . See aiso, in the same f i le. Lesle B. MacHattie, "The Impact of the SCM." 13 [Henry Burton Shannan?], untitled document, [1933 or later], SCM KA, box 84- 132, file "Dr. Sharman."

did not profess to br Christians to feel weicome. At the University of Toronto in the

193 1-32 academic year. an sc>ivi'er Ieading a study of Jesus' life characterized the study

as an open discussion in which prejudices and previous knowledge were to be set aside so

that al1 students, including those who did not daim to be Christian, might participate."

In 192 1 WCF general secretary Noel Palmer. comparing IVCF with the SCM. contended

that. contrary to the opinion of some, ~ V C F like the SCM included religious 'seekers' in

discussion groups.l' Thus both movernents found informal discussion to be a rnethod

especiall y sui rable for their purposes.

While studies typically consisted of informai discussion. SCM and WCF leaders

suggesred a number of guidelines. IVCF groups sometimes drew frorn previously

preparcd Bible srudies such as those provided by the British Inter-Varsity Fellowship, the

British Scripture Union, or Chicago's Moody Bible Institute. In 1939, for example, IVCF

made use of a new British Inter-Varsity Press publication. entitled "United Bible Study."

a thrrr-ycar guide which introduced Scripture texts and suggested questions which would

open up discussion.16 The SCM'S study groups on the life of Jesus often drew from Henry

Bunon Sharman's J r s i ~ ~ in rhe Records or Records of-the Life of Jeszcs which ju'ttaposed

sirnilar verses fiom blarthew, Mark and Luke in order to highlight similarities and

di fferences be twen these narrative accounts. This ' cut-and-paste' process, re ferred to b y

some as the 'Sharman method', became a standard format of SCM Bible studies. Other

books were also used as guides, such as Leslie Weatherhead's His Life and Oius, a

consideration of Jesus' psychological significance for modem living; Message of Jesus

1.1 b'arsig. clipping. 19 January 1932, SCM UT& B79-0059, box 18, file "193 1-32," 15 Noei Palmer, untirled M s [draft], [I93 l ] , [VA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 3. 16 "United Bible Study: A Course of Nine Studies for Bible Study Circles," vol. 1, ed. Rev. H.E. Gliillebaud (London: The Inter-Varsity Fetlowship, 1 939).

for Life of Today. by United Church minisrrr and ardent socid gospeller Ernrst Thomas.

which focused on current issues in the light of Jesus' teachings: and The BiHe ond the

@est of Life. which aimed to examine the --etemally relevant contents of the Bible" and

extract b*conternporary application."17 For both IVCF and the s c ~ . such extra sources

were rneant to be a starting point for discussion.

Leaders of both movements. convincrd of the importance of study, also

underscored certain regulations. An SCM leader in the late 1920s and 1430s later recalled

that Henry Burton Sharman, who frequently led studies in person. laid down specific

requirements such as "seriousness of purpose. regular attendance at group meetings.

careful preparation. including ~ ~ i t t e n answers to questions. participation in discussion

and, most important of all, intention to accept and act upon the truth d isc~vcred." '~

Similarly. IVCF'S -'United Bible S tudy" guide from 1 939 suggrstrd that each mcmbrr of a

study should read the material beforehand. be '*regular and punctual" in anendance. and

pray individually for "spiritual results." It also offered advics for leaders on how to

prepare and phrase questions to facilitate discussion. and how to involve membcrs and

lead them towards practical conclusions. Thus while the SCM emphasized Jesus'

humanity and correlation with modem social issues and IVCF emphasizrd Jesus as God

and mler of each individual's life, the two student rnovements' leaders nonetheless

stmctured studies in sirnilar ways and placed similar expectations on participants.

Worship. whether in the f o m of prayer or singing, \vas another important element

of scsr and IVCF programmes. Prayer was viewed as central to the purposes of [KF. One

17 "Courses for Study Groups Recommended for 1935-36'' (KM of Canada). [ 193 j?], L'TA SCM. 879-0059. box 7, file "Archives 1935- 1936." 18 Gertrude Rutherford Brooks, letter in appreciation of Henry Burton Sharman, I O June 1954, SCsr cc.\. box 81- IO, file I 1.

r v c ~ secretary. distressed in 1937 that evangelical students at the University of Alberta

devalued the activity of prayer and rarely seemed to get beyond "mutual consolation."

assened that prayer should be --the basis" of 1vcF7s work. lg In 1938 another secretary

wit ine - ro a prospective member stated that daily prayer meetings (also refemed to as

DPXI-s) were the core activity of I V ~ F groups across ana da.'^ The SCM also included

prayer in its programme. although to a lesser degree than WCF. The Mowment was

criticized by sorne for not emphasizing prayer enough, but leaders: in 1952. countered

this cnticism with the argument that they sought "a greater sense of reality in prayer*' and

thus avoided conventional f o m s of prayer. Accordingly, the Executive Committee

proposed that the SCM study the --place and importance" of prayer and encouraged the

.-realisation of the presence of God in al1 Our life and activity."" Meetings of the scxi

11

Executive Committee and the National Council included times of prayer and worship.--

Sources suggest that in the Latter part of the 1930s prayer becarne more prominent in the

SCM. .A "News Bulletin" issued by the SCM at the University of Toronto in 1937 asserted

that worship \iras "coming to have a more definite and central place" in the movement.

This statement was followed by announcements that two SCM groups on campus met

weekly for a twenty-minute prayer meeting and that, for men, the Hart House Chape1 was

always available for *-private meditation and prayer."'3 For six weeks pnor ro an

19 Jim Fomester to C. Stacey Woods, 29 October 1937, [VA, box 3, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." Two weeks later Forrester reponed that the quality of the University of Alberta IvCF group had much improved, due especially to "persistent prayer amongst the faithful." Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, 16 Novernber 1937, IV;\, box 3, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." 'O Charles Troutman to Claude Vipond. 23 September 1938, WA. box 3, file "Charles Troutman, QC," 2 . The daiiy prayer meeting was a feature inherited from British evangeIical groups. '' SCSI National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 4-6 June 1932, sCM KA, box 84-56, file " 1932." 3 . '' SCM National Executive Cornmittee and National Council minutes, 1929- 1939, SCM UCA, boxes 84-56 and 84-94. " "Student Christian Movement in the University of Toronto News Bulletin," 2. no. 1 (Novernber 1937). Schi UTA. B79-0059, box 15, fiIe "SCM in ü of T News Bulletin."

evangzlistic effon in 1939. a g o u p of between four and sixteen scbr'ers met every

rnornin; for a ten-minute prayer meeting'"

Both movements also organized national prayer events. Beginning in the 1930s.

i v c ~ annually designated one day to pray for the staff, students. and specific activities

and nreds of ~ V C F groups. Sirnilarly, the SCM, as a member of the World Student

Chrisrian Federarion. participated in a yearly "World Day of Prayer for Students."

Prayer. then. was an activity considered wonhwhile by both student movements.

The singing of religious songs also held an important place in organized events of

the s c ~ and lVCF such as weekend rctreats, camps, chape1 senices and house gatherings.

In an s c ~ songbook from the University of British Columbia, a number of devotional

songs focused students' attention on Chns~. '' The song, *-Grant Me Tnie Courage.

Lord.'' pointed to rhe companionship of Jesus as a motivation for service: 'Grant me tme

courage. Lord / To front each new endeavor, I Confiding in Thy word / That Thou wilt

leave me never ! Aiike in gioom or joy / Each duty to fülfill/ My faithful heart employ /

To do Thy pcrfect will." The book also included a number of 'spirituais' which came out

of the African-Amcrican tradition, such as "Were You There?" which contained the very

evangelicai lines: "Were you there when they crucified my Lord," "Were you there when

they nailed him to the tree," "Were you there when they laid him in the tomb." and,

finally. *Were )*ou there when God raised Him from the dead?" Other songs could

cornmunicate in a more light-hearted way, such as "Lord, 1 want to be a Christian / In-a

my hean, in-a my heart. / Lord, 1 want to be a Christian / In-a my heart. . . ." Subsequent

verses repeated the sentences, "Lord, 1 want to be more Ioving," "Lord, 1 want to be more

Report of the Relision and Life Week cornmittee. [1939], SCM UTA. 879-0059. box 23. file '.sCM U of T Religion 8: Life Week 1939."

holy." and "Lord, 1 r w t to be Iike Jesus."

An LVCF songbook offers parallels ui th the above SCM ~ollect ion. '~ Included were

-'Lord. 1 want to be a Christian." %"re You There?" and many others rvhich focused on

C h s r . Thernes of SCM songs such as Jesus' companionship. Jcsus' death and

resurrection, and the believer's desire to emulate Jesus are reflected in [\TF's choice of

hymns. such as "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." -'When 1 S u n e y the Wondrous

Cross." and "Take iMy Life and Let it Be Consecrated. Lord. to Thee."

In addition to the practice of Bible study and worship. SCM and WCF leaders gave

formal lessons on devotion. At a 1937 student conference in Bellingharn. Washington

which was attended by ~ V C F students from the University of British Columbia. a

Canadian IVCF secretary led three half-hour discussions on the topics of devotion. praycr.

and Bible study ." The University of Toronto SCM in 1935-26 recommendcd a study of

the thsrne of worship and suggested some supplemrntal reading including titles such as

:I.lerhods of Privare Rdigious Living. Feliowhip in Tholcghi and Prc~yer. and I k y s of*

~ r a ~ i r z g ' ~ In the sarne year the U of T group heard lrctures on worship and on African-

American ~ ~ i r i t u a l s . ~ ~

Leaders of both movements articulateci, to some extent. an espectation that

students practice devotion individually, away frorn the context of organized events. SCM

25 University of British Columbia SCM Song Book. [ca. 19301, schi KA, box 10, fils 2. ' 6 "Pioneer Melodies," [vCF songbook, [ca. 19601. Although this Inter-Varsity songbook was published three decades afier the SCM book, the selections used here for comparison with the schr pre-date the 1930s and were most likely Sung by Inter-Varsiry groups long before they were collected into this volume. The book contains bracketed notes nest to song titles which indicate that al1 thrr'e of the hymns listed here were taken R o m an earlier hymnal. " Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, report. 16 November 1937, IVA. box 3. file .-Jim Forrester. W. Canada," 4. " "A Book List IO Supplement the Snidy Group Material," anached to bbCounes for Study Groups Recornrnended for 1935-36" (scbr of Canada), [1935?], SCM UTA. 879-0059, box 7, file "Archives 1935- 1936."

leaders suggesred that students study privately in preparation for group studies.jO In

addition. in 1934 a committee of the SCM National Council asserted that the scsi's

success on carnpusrs depended on the genuineness of members' religious lives; in part

this genuineness would result from .'regular pnvate devotion on the part of the individual

member of the SC~L"" Four years later a committee on worship expressed again to the

Xationai Council rheir conviction that "as individuals worship should becorne more real

for us through consrant and disciplined 'practice of the presence of God"' and suggested

a number of worship matenals which could be used for "personal devotions." including

books of hyrnns and prauers." Similady, ivcF staff encouraged students to pray and

study the Bible individually. Howard Guimess, when travelling across Canada in 1928-

1929, raught the students he met to practice the "Morning Watch," a time of Bible study

and payer at the begiming of one's day.33 A t an WCF conference in Toronto in 1933,

leaders implored rhose present to pray individually; the general secretary, Anhur Hill.

noted in his report that the *'potver" and the "lasting effects" of the conference depended

on "the private devotions of individuals and linle groups who were there."" nie SCM

and IVCF? then, placed value on time spent in persona1 devotional activity as essential in

training students for Chnstim service.

Leaders and rnembers of both movements also occasionally discovered that a gap

" Programme list, 1935-36, scbt UTA, 879-0059, box 16, file " s c ~ student activities 1935-6.'. ;O For example, one leader, rnost likely Henq Burton Shaman, stated that "private study" was bgabsolutely essential" in an SCM study group. [Henry Bunon Sharman?], [1933 or later]. SCM UCA, box 8 4 - 1 2 , file "Dr. Sharman," 3 l "Repon of the Comminee on the Impact of the SCM on the University," SCM National Council minutes, 1934, app. A, SCM KA, box 84-94, file 14. 5 2 "Repon of Commission on ' Worship'." KM National Council minutes. 1 %8. app. B. SCM KA, box 84- 94, file 18. 5 3 Arthur Hill, "Early Days of the IvCF in Canada," [ca. 19651, [VA, unlabelled box, file "A.H. - 1933-34," .I

J.

" Arthur Hill, 7houghü Conceming the IVCF Con ference at Toronto, Sept. 15- 18, 1933," [l933], iv.4,

existed betwren the ideal and the reality of devotional Me, and expressed concem about

spiritual declension. The SCM diagnosed busyness as an impediment to the spirinial life;

students needed to leam to step out of the fiay on occasion. Retreats were seen as

especially conducive to counteracting this impediment. One purpose of an SCM

conference at Elgin House in the Muskoka region in the 1928-29 schooi year was to

"escape from the rush and whirl of ordinary life. with leisure for unhumed thought and

retlection. in Company with others of like desires and aspirations."'j Leaders of the

University of Toronto SCM announced in 1937 that the Hart House Chapel. always open

for private meditation and prayer. could be &'a place of real quietness and strength where

male students might *'retire for a while from the hurry and confusion of University life to

be dons with ~ o d . " ' ~ Likewise Ernest Dale, in his reflections on the first twenty years of

the SCM in Canada. perceived the need of students to "find time for fellowship in prayer

7 - and worship."' '

Another cause of spiritual stagnancy, sometimes linked with busyness, was the

haphazard or ri tua1 istic performance of devotional activities. The many distractions of

student Iife could interfere with one's concentration. IVCF evangelist Howard Guinness

drscribed one praysr meeting at iMcGill as "somewhat stiff' and added that no one

interjected "Amen" during or afier a public prayer, a sign for him that the participants

were not as involved spiritually as they could have been.18 The SCM had its own foms

which could undermine spiritual vitality. Of the SCM'S 'Shman rnethod' of Bible study

udabelled box, file "A.H. 1933-34," 2. i s Elgin House Con ference brochure, 1 1 - 19 September 1929, SCM UCA, box 84- 136, file 20. 36 "Student Christian Movement in the University of Toronto News Bulletin," 2, no. 1 (November 1937). scxi cr.4. B79-0059. box 15, file "scbr in U of T News Bulletin." 3: Dale. Twenw One ).*cars A -Building, 3 8. " Howard Guinness. diary, 7-8 March 1929. IVA, unlabelled box.

in the SCM. Emest Dale recalled that for some people. having "question afier question

with the answer withheld. or at least held long in suspense. resulted in a negative

attitude."j9

A final cause of spiritual declension expressed by leaders was a failure of

devotional methods to include or influence rveryone. Both the SCM and IVCF, artempting

to be interdenominational organizations, realized that. since the style o f worship varied

from one church to the next, it was especially difficult to design occasions of worsnip in

which al1 Christian students would feel at ease. For exarnple. IVCF'S general secretary

Noel Palmer noted in 193 1 that one student in a prayer meeting might participate b-

"inte jecting unrestrained hallelujahs and m e n s into another's audible praying" whereas

another student might be more corn fortable with a formal, liturgical

Considering that in their self-definitions both the SCM and IVCF viewed each other.

somewhat disdainhlly, as having counteractive purposes, the above similarities in their

devotional practices are remarkable. But devotional practices also held within them

profound differences. First of d l , though both groups emphasized study. topics diverged

between the SCM and IVCF. The Bible studies of both movernenrs did artempt to direct

students to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. But schi'ers almost exclusively

focused on the Gospels through the aid of Henry Burton S h m a n ' s books; there is linle

evidence that they studied other books of the Bible. An SCM spokesperson. likely

Sharman himself, stated: "The most important part of the Bible for an SCM is contained

in the life of Jesus. Other parts are valuable in varying degrec, but these records are of

prïmary importance to any student interested in religion or in a satisfying kind of

- -

39 Dale, Twenty-One Years A -Building, 3 1 . JO Noel Palmer, "Our Purpose, Programme. & Problems," iMs [draft], [193 11. IVA, unlabelled bos, file

7 - 4 1 life. . . . WCF. on the other hand, studied a wide range of biblical books, themes, and

characters. The "United Bible Snidy" guide published by the British Inter-Varsity Press

in 1939 focused on specific characters and books of the Bible from both the Old and N e w

Testaments. on thernes such as the biblicai history of Israel and rhe miracles and

teachinos - of Christ. and on the biblical basis for IVCF'S doctrinal statement inscribed in its

constir~tion."~

Essentially the respective approaches paralle1 the differences ben\-een higher and

Lower criticism of the Bible. WCF studies assumed that the Bible was die inspired Word

of God: this doctrine was not up for discussion. Moreover, the Inter-Varsity student.

whether studying the reign of King David or the gospel of John. was rrpected to be able

to draw practical application for life in the modem worid. The scbi, in contrast. assumed

the concIusions of the higher criticism; the study of the Bible, as an essentially human

compilation of various accounts of God and religious experience, necessitated scrutiny by

modem scholars. Underlying the 'Sharman method', so prominent in SCV study goups.

was the belief that the real character of Jesus had been obscured. To recowr the most

accurate portrait of Jesus, one needed to sifi through the dust of human accounts of Jesus

and the clutter of church traditions, discarding what was deemed unnecessary. For the

SCM, in contrast to I V C F ~ traditional approach, the Bible was simply one of a number of

sources of religious inspiration. In 1932 a professor addressing the s c ~ at the University

of Toronto contended that even Jesus had seen Scripture as a beginning point which

-- -- - - - - -- - - -

"Histop - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 2-3. JI [Henry Burton Sharman?], untitled document, [1933 or later], SCM UCA, box 132, file "Dr. Shannan." In 1939 Shannan candidly admitted that he lacked farniliarity with most of the Bible due to his concentration on the New Testament Gospels: "Certainly it is a decade since 1 read anything else in the Bible, and 1 don't know how much longer it is since 1 read any of the rest of the New Testament. In fact, 1 am not altogether sure, although rny doctorate is in the New Testament field, that I have ever read al1 of the New Testament until the 1 s t few months." Henry Burton Sharman, speech transcript, 1939, SCM KA, box 84-10, file 37.

could eventually be ~ur~assed. ' '~ Elsewhere it was proposed that Bible-reading should be

a situational rather than a habitua1 exercise."

One could argue as well that SCM studies were more intellectual in nature dian

IVCF studies. Again. the goal of both was a cornmitment to Jrsus; but rvhereas [\.CF

leaders emphasizrd faith in Christ the redeemer. for SCM leaders the key objrct appcars to

have been correct thinking about Jesus, the founder of Christianity. The SCM assumed

that if its members were able to see clearly who Jesus was, then commitment to Jesus, or

assent to bis teachings. would fo~low.''~ Thus for the SCM a commitment to Iesus was

primarily intellecrual and voli tional whereas for ~ V C F the commitment was esperiential

and volitional.

.An esample of an IVCF Bible study serves to iilustrare this difference. In 1939 an

IVCF Bible s t u d guide included a five-week series on the life of Peter as found in a

number of New Testament books. Study questions consistently related aspects of the

disciple's life to the modern Christian's situation. To illustrate, in responsc to the

account of Peter's being given the power of the Holy Spirit the question uas asked,

Where does our power fa11 short of that of the first disciples. and why?" The study

ended with a chal lrnge to consider three things: "(a) the greatest thing Christ has dons

" ..United Bible Study.'. 45 B.W. Horan, quoted in "Authority of Bible Lies in the Appeal made to Humanity," C.krsiry, 5 1 , no. 88 (25 Febniary 1932). UTA, Vmsiy microfilm. 44 "Syllabus & Reference Material for Discussion Group Leaders on Student Problerns, Elgin House 1928," pt. 3, SCM UCA, box 84- 136, file 25. It was proposed that since it was not customary to read a chapter of Shakespeare every day, constantly asking how the chapter was appIicable to life, neither should the Bible be read in this way. Rather, it should be read to meet a specific need or to answer a specific quesrion. 1 5 [Henry Burton Sharman?], untitled document, [1933 or Iater], SCM UCA, box 132, file "Dr. Sharman." One SCM leader active in the late 1920s and the 193Os, Gemude Rutherford Brooks, apparently witnessed students making this step from a clearer understanding of Jesus to a persona1 commitment to Him: afier H.B. Sharman's death she recorded that many students were indebted to S h m a n for "his persistent focus and emphasis on the centrality of Jesus in the work of the Movement" and "the excellent materials which have been and will be of inestimable value" which contributed to their "discovery or re-discovery of Jesus" and "the dedication of their lives to the will of God as revealed through Him." Gertrude Rutherford

for you in change of character: (b) the most recent experience of His p o w r you have had:

(c) your greatest need for further character t r ans f~rmat ion? '~~ Whereas in the SCN the

study of the New Testament gospels led to incisive analysis of current social. political

and economic trends, IVCF studies guided students towards a persona1 relarionship with

Christ and an enthusiasrn for Christian living.

The SCM'S range of study topics was much broader than IVCF'S. .A national SCM

list of nventy proposed studies for the 1935-36 academic year consisted of seven which

focused on the life of Jesus, three on life esperiences. three which comparsd traditional

Christianity with modem dernands, five on socio-political problems. and two on

missions. The category dealing with 'Iife experiences' also had a devotional nature:

beyond discussions of Jesus' life and teachings and other aspects of Chrisrianity. the SCM

also sought to promote spiritual developrnent rhrough studies dealing with issues of

persona1 character and dail y living. These included thernes suc h as relations hips. the

maturing process: rnorality, and personal religion." Although studies of a personal

nature were not nurnerous. leaders ascribrd a great deal of importance to thern. In their

view effective study and work in the fields of religion and socicty could only be done

when students had "attained persona1 freedom," meaning thercby the persona1 moraliiy

and character exemplified by Christ. and gained through loyalty to him. These study

-. . -

Brooks, letter in appreciation of Henry Burton Sharman, 10 June 1954, KM KA, box 81- 10, file 1 t . ' 6 '.United Bible Study," 22-23. 47 "Courses for Study Groups Recommended for 1 935-36" (schr of Canada). [ 1 93 5 ? ] , SCM UTA. B79-0059. box 7, file "Archives 1935-1936," 4. Leaders noted the special challenge of relationships bebveen men and wornen in the university context; the National Council articulated that "particular care should be laken in the preparation of material for this study, and in the selection of leadership." "Rspon of Commission on 'Study'," app. A, SCM National Council minutes, [I938], UCA SCM. box 84-94, file 18, p. 1. At the University of Toronto, SCM members heard addresses on the developrnent of personal character; ofien addresses of this nature were delivered to gender-specific audiences. For esample. female medical students listened to a talk in the fa11 of 1935 on "Friendship between Men and Wornen," in 1938 women mer during a noon-hour to hear about "Women as Citizens," and in the faIl of 1937 male students listened to an address

groups "should evennially br-ing the student to face the Christian challenge to the whole

of ~ i f e . ' ~ ' WCF. while it may have had a latent concem for personal issues. did not

expiicitly in its studies confiont themes such as reiationships or maturity.

Furthemore. in contrast with the SCM'S prayer and wonhip times. which oAen

employed liturgy or other prepared matenals, IVCF'S devotionalism was much more

casual and impromptu. In 1933 the IVCF general secretary, Noel Palmer, described an

evening meeting at which five university students had talked about their espenences of

Chnst as '-informal, spontaneous, and radiantly vital."49 In Manitoba in the spring of

1933. an evening hike with some WCF students ended with an unsolicited rime of singing

hymns and prauing.'O At a prayer meeting of the University of Toronto IVCF in its first

year of existence. prayers were said. according to a I'arsiy reporter, '-as the spirit

moves."" General secretary Noel Palmer was pleased at an Inter-Varsity conference in

1933 with the use of .-sentence prayer" - successive short prayers by various students."

The underlying convictions conceming prayer were that students should sponianeously

express themselves to God and that such direct and persona1 prayer, rather than following

liturgical forms. was most potent.

Profound differences existed also in the songs of the two movements,

notwithstanding some common songs and thernes. IVCF members sang about their belief

-- - - - - - - -- -

on -'The Case for Chastity," after which seventy-five remained for discussion. SCM lists of student acrivities, 1935-6 and 1937-8, ~ r r ~ SCM, B79-0059, box 16. 48 "Report of Commission on 'Study'," app. A, SCM National Council minutes, [1938], UCA SCM, box 81- 94, file 18, p. 2. 49 Noel Palmer, "Report fiom the Colleges and Schools," February 1933, IVA, box 1, file "History of the [VF in Canada ( 193 1 -36)." 'O Cathie Nicoll. report. 4 March 1938, [VA, box 3, file "Cathie Nicoll, Winnipeg." 5 1 "Sincerity Marks Meeting of Intercollegiate C.U.," Varsify, 42, no. 7 1 (IO lanuary 19291, UTA. I Q r s q microfilm. " Noel Palmer, "Report from the Colleges and Schools," February 1933, [VA, box 1. file b.History of the IVF in Canada (193 1 -36)." Palmer added that the prayers were "wonderfùlly real, pointed, humble and

that --He [Jesus] is Coming Again," whereas the KM chose songs which concemcd '-life

in the present world in contrast to a *better land' of the future."" Moreover. the SCM

avoided hymns employing military language, a practice reflecting their pacifistic

sentiments and abhorrence of 'muscular' Christian language. Meanwhile IKF sang "A

Mighty Fortress is Our God" and '5oldier. Soldier Fighting." WCF'S inclusion of hymns

such as "Jesus. Lover of My Soul" stands in contrast to the scai's exclusion of the

"saccharine variety" of songs. And while IVCF embraced traditional hymns, the scai

claimcd to have eliminated from its hymnbook songs with outdated images of God. Jesus.

Iife and sai~ation. '~

Both the SCM and IVCF experienced and recognized fluctuations in devotional Me:

but while reports of these fluctuations within IVCF came most often from specific units.

the SCM'S leadership at times questioned the movrment's ability to meet the devotional

needs of students nation-wide. SCM leaders looking back on the 1930s perceived that

Bible studies and corporate worship across the country seemed to have lost soms of their

earlier vitality between 1935 and the early 1940s. In response to this general decline in

devotional activity. national leaders attempted to revitalize Bible studies, prayer and

worship in the SCN programme.5'

consecratsd." 5 ; Murray Brooks, article in The Canadian Studenr, quoted by Dale, Twenry-One Years .-i-Bzdùing 2. Brook assisted in the compiling of one SCM songbook, entitled "Songs for Worship," published in 1 9 3 and reissued as "Hymns for Worship" in 1939. "How Much Do You Know About the Canadian schr?" 1947, schr UTA, B79-0059, box 5, file "1947," 2.

lbid. " In 19-13, the scxi National Council responded to the perceived spiritual stagnancy by recommining the Movement to the Christian faith. "The implications of our decision," the Council stated. -'. . . are that our action as a Christian group rnust have its roots in life-related Bible study and worship." "How Much Do You Know About the Canadian SCM?" 1947, SCM UTA, box 5, file " 1947." The criticism of the SC'ct's devotionai life coincided with the aforementioned waning of idealism and shift towards a more consenative theology. I t seems most likely that, in response to diminishing enthusiasm for 'building the Kingdom of God'. the scht's leaders sought to revitalize the movement through a greater emphasis on spiritual, rather than socio-political, concerns, and thus showed a more profound interest in devotional

On the practical level of devotionalisrn. generaliy PiCF appears traditional and the

SCM cuiturally innovative. Richard Ostrander' s suggestion that consen-ari ve Prorestan t

devotionalism in the United States was analogous to the charging of a -batte-' seems

fitting for rvcr Bible study and worship (including prayer and singing) were 'terrninals'

through which students received spiritual power. schi'ers, true to Ostrander's -neindmil 1'

model for liberal Protestant devotionalism. believed that God's power inhsed ail aspects

of life. Worship and Bible study were important parts of the SCM'S programme. but they

did not have as central a place as they did in IKF. Rather. in the SCM a varier). of

activities gave students access to a God who was immanent within human society. Thus

characterizations of WCF and the SCM as conservative and liberal. respectively. are in

many ways accurate.

Yet these t ems do not do justice entirely to each movernent's practical expression

of its beliefs. The SCM'S use of liturgy in worship and payer seerns strikingly

conventional and. conversely. ~ V C F appears radical in the spontaneity of ils

devotionalism. ivloreover. the important position given in the SCU'S programme to the

Bible. specifically the Gospels. lessens the force of a -windrnill0 model. Here was a

clearly prescnbed activity which, in the minds of many schi'ers. formed the foundation

of the movernent. Finally, in contrat to Ostrander's 'pietistic fundamentalists' u-ho

stressed morning devotions so as to recharge for the day, WCF allowed for flexibility in

such progrmmed activity under the pressure of student schedu~es.'~

Al1 of these exceptions serve to draw the SCM and ~ V C F doser to a rnoderate

activities and conservative doctrines. This should not be construed as a shifi in the mandate of the SCM so much as an attempt to re-energize the movement so that 'building the Kingdom' might continue. 56 A few voices did consider timing to be important. One student. the president of an ivcF group, reponed that the Fellowship had dernonstrated to him "the vital importance of staning the day. every day with Him."

position. Even more importantly, this comparative study reveais key points of contact. It

illuminates first of al1 the shared devotional character of these movernents. Members of

the schr and IVCF alike rvere encouraged to pray. worship and study the Bible with the

intent to be more attentive to lesus Christ. Leaders translated this expectarion into

structured activities and the teaching of persona1 devotion. Moreover. the practice of

devotion was sren ro be an essentiai precursor to the evangelistic activities of these

rnovcments. Wonhip and study fuelled liberal attempts to change the social order as well

as conservarive evangelistic efforts to change the individual.

Newdznsr, [I937-391, rvA, box 1 , file "Material of Historic Interest (1937-39)."

CHAPTER 4

SAVING SOULS OR SAVING THE SOCIAL ORDER? THE STUDENT EVANGELISTIC IMPULSE

The Studrnt Christian Movement and inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship each

hoped to reinvigorate Christianity and to influence society. They began by focusing

studenrs' attention on lesus. through either the study of the Bible or prayer and other

forms of Christian rvorship. For example, in 1933 SCM leaders were asked to leave aside

the application of Christian principles to "social and missionary problems" until they had

ascenained each studrnt's ..personal situation with reference to christ."' Both

movements assumcd that a clear understanding of Jesus Chnst and a cornmitment to the

principles which he taught must come before involvement in active outreach. But leaders

were convinced that devotional activities should produce a desire arnong students to

evangelize - to share thsir understanding of Jesus with other people. beginning with the

universic- communiry and expanding to an international scope. Both rnovements had

gram out of the nineteenth-century transatlantic student enthusiasm for missions;

between 1928 and 1939 their memberships maintained a desire as individuals and as

Christian communities to transform - essentially to 'Christianize' - their world.'

"Repon of Cornmittee on Study Groups," app. C, SCM National Council minutes. 1 1-12 September 1933. UCA SCM. box 84-94, file 13, p. 3. ' This ongoing interest among students to evangelize reflects a wider evangelistic interest among Canadian Protestants in the 1920s and 1930s. as noted by Roben Wright in A IVorldrMission: Canadian Protestartrrsm and the Quesrfor a New Infernational Order, I918-1939 (Montreal and Kingston: McGilI- Queen's Lniversity Press, 1992), 4. Wright focuses especially on the mission boards of the mainline denominations.

The actuai shape of this evangelistic desire expressed itself quire differently for

the scsi and IVCF. Members of the SCM sought primady to address societal issues

through the precepts oFChristianity. Specifically. diey believed rhat Jesus' life and moral

teaching offered solutions to curent political, economic and social problems. Thus they

diligenrly studied rhese problems and involved themselves in social activism both locally

and intemationally. For IVCF members, on the other hand. societp's problems could only

be solved through a vibrant persona1 relationship with Christ. Thus rvcF leaders taught

members how to lead others into this relationship and encouraged them to be involved in

local and foreign missions.

But both the SCM and WCF included in their constitutions a commitment to

spreading the Christian message: the schr souçht "to share with others the values

discovered in Jesus Chnst and to join wi th thosr of like mind in a11 lands and of cvery

race and rank in the creation of a world-wide order of society in harrnony wirh the mind

and purpose of God as revealed in Jesus ~ h r i s t . " ~ and WCF sought ..to witness to the Lord

Jesus Chnst as Saviour and God and to srek to lead others to a personai faith in ~ i r n . " '

Naturally. then, leaders encouraged students to Follow through on these commitmenis.

They reirrrated thrir evangelistic vision in a variety of statements. and the? offered

practical suggestions, often surprisingly similar, concerning how ihis vision might be

carried out. Thus, in terms of both emphasis and method, some ovcrlap esisted between

the two goups.

For SCM leaders such as general secretary Murray Brooks, who attended an

international missionary conference in Jerusalem in Easter of 1928. the missionary task

j SCM Constitution, revised 1 1 - 1 3 Seprember 1933, SCM UCA, box 84- 15, file "National Office Printed Materials Scrapbook, 1 920-34," 8.

had changed since the latter decades of the nineteenth century but was still considered to

be veq important. At the 1928 conference, delegates evaluated the character and the

effecti\-mess of missionizing efforts. John R. Mon, the premiere statesman of student

miss ionq activity, issued a challenge, in Brooks' words, -'to adventurous rhinking and w

to couraoeous - action."' But what had been an essentially religious task in the late 1880s

when Mott and others had established the Student Volunteer bfovernent \vas now

complicared by a variety of cultural issues7 and new questions were being ajked:

What is ro be the Christian attitude toivards war? Towards the protection of missionaries by gunboaü? Towards die race question? Towards the modern economic situation? Towards the prevalcnt materialistic philosoph:. of life? Are the non-Christian religions adequate to meet the needs in their oun countries? Can Christianity really be adapted to the Orient? What is to be the future relationship between rhc older western churches and the younger eastern churches now desiring a larger measure of freedom and sclf- drstrrminxion? Has religion any concern with the political and econornic Life of peoples?4

.Mso. rnuch more than in the late nineteenth century, the missionary impulse now found

expression through the work of doctors, scientists, agrïculturalists and teachers;

moreo\-sr. modem missions called for a deeper sensitivity to the host culture.' World

mission did indeed remain an emphasis of the Canadian SCM - the movement believed

IVCF Constitution. 1935-36. [VA. box 3. file *.Executive Cornmittee Canada (Fellowship Constitution)." ' M u r n ? Brooks to sCs1 fiiends. 2 1 April 1928. SC%i UCA. box 81- 136. file 28. "bid., 1 . Roben Wright vieivs the Jerusalem conference as a turning point in Anplo-American missions. especially in its neiv consideration of the relationship between the Western and Eastern churches. Wright, IVorld .\fission, 1 65. A number of historians have connibuted excellent analyses of the changing nature of missions frorn rhe

nineteenth century into the twentieth. WiIliam R. Hutchison, in Errand to the CVorfd: Americun Protestant Thoright und Foreign Missions (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1957), obsemes. in chaps. 4 to 7, a transition arnong American liberal Protestants From the staning point of late-nineteenth- crntury enthusiasm for persona1 evangelism and foreign missions (encapsulated especially by the Student Volunteer Movement's mono. "The evangelisation of the world in this generation") to their suppon of 'civilizing missions' infused with the social gospel and ultimately, in the 1920s and 1930s. to collaboration with other faiths and indigenous mission work. British scholar Timothy Yates, in chaps. 3 a d 4 of his Christian .\fission in rhe Twenrieth Century (Cam bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994). gives credibili~ to Hutchison's conclusions on a wider international scale. He notes that liberal thinkers foIlowing the 1928 Jenisalem conference included education, medicine and agriculture as essential to missi0na.r)- vork and that between 1928 and World War Two these thinkers focused on the relationship of Christianip to other religions. These books fûrther elaborate on the personalities and topics of the 1928 con ference.

that the message of Christianity crossed al1 borders.' But the SCM perceived that the

rnissionaq task had been altered substant ia l~~.~

The new missionary impulse now found expression also in concem for social. and

not simply individuai. -salvat ion9. Jesus' precepts brought "the full realizarion of life."

meaning that the missionary offered spiritual freedom, but also economic. social and

polirical freedom. The rnovement3 concern for social issues emerged naturally from its

rdigious bcliefs. The presence of "poverty, war. social inequality, race prejudice. class

conflict." and other societal ills proved to the SCM that "our present society in eHect

denics God." A godly sociery would allow its members to live equally and c ~ r n ~ l e t e l ~ . ' ~

The SCM. informed bu its theolo_oy of Jesus as God incarnate. intended to reclaim modem

society for Christ bu offering Christian solutions to its problems.

Like their predrcessors in the student world who had sought "the evangelisation

of the ~vorld in this grneration," schr leaders approached their social gospel task with a

sense of urgency. ' ' General secretary Murray Brooks perceived the world's desperatr

S SC>! Xarionai Council minutes. 1937, Sf'ct L'CA, box 83-94, file 17, p. 4. 9 On the topic of changes within the Anglo-American missionary enterprise, see Wright, Wurld Mksion, tspeciall>, chaps. 4, 5 and 7, on the Canadian contelit and Hutchison, Errand to fhe Woorld, especially chaps. 4 to 6 , on the Arnerican context. Both of these authors trace missionary effort fiom cooperation. in the latter pan of the nineteenth century, between liberal and conservative Protestants in building Christian civilization through conversion, to the dominance in the 1930s of the mainline mission boards which espoused the liberal comrnitment to establishing indigenous missions and dialoging with host cultures. Wright contends. however, that Canadian rnainline Protestant missions, unlike their American counterparts, were able to rnaintain a balance between the punuits of evangelism ana social service (1 10- 1 1 1). 10 ibid.. 5. I I Phy llis Airhart, in an article on the MethodistRJnited Church support of the social gospel in Canada. contends that Methodists. in response to the perceived failure of revivalistic methods to bring Canadians into the church, embraced a new "Kingdom of God evangelism" in which individual salvation was a secondan result of the primary task of building God's Kingdom in the fabric of Canadian society. According to Airhart, social gospellers considered thernsetves to be 'evangelists' but constmed 'conversion' as a person's decision to serve God through social action. See Airhart, "Christian Socialisrn and the Legacy Of Revivalism in the 1930's." in A Long and Fairhftcl Murch: 'Towarch the Christian Revolurion. ' /930s//980s, ed. Roger Hutchinson and Harold Wells (n.p.: The United Church Publishing House. 19S9), 30-40. Similarly, David Plaïton argues that at least into the 1930s the United Church maintaincd a concern for constructing God's kingdom through both evangelism and social work. Eventually, he contends, this relationship broke down as the two pursuits began to compete for the loyalties

need of people who would channel their understanding of Jesus into --the expression of

his ethic in al1 the relationships of life." In his view the scxr was the best-equipped

Canadian group to respond to this need. --In fact," he claimed boldly, '-1 feel that we are

called of God at this tirne to be his messengers to society. . . ."" Mediating Jesus'

teachings to society. rhen, was a divinely-comrnissioned task of SCM membcrs. With this

in mind Brooks appealed to scbi'ers to take more risks. "The Christian c m ncver play

safe, nor demand security," he said. "The cal1 of Christ is unconditional. His foilowers

must abandon al1 and go forth. Only a challenge to a new adventure will cal1 fonh a

response fiorn students and capture their a l~ê~iance ." '~

This adventure, it appears. was to confront intelligently the great problems of

modem Me. Thus education was a primary task of the XM: students would be bctter

prepared to face the modem world afier having carefully studied both the life of Jesus

and political. social. and economic issues. The SCM'S central educational tool [vas its

study groups. In the minds of leaders. study was not a precursor to action. but rather was

already a participation in the building of a Christian society.'" The leadership recognizrd

the danger of studies becoming only intellectual exercises and encouraged local groups to

be as practically-minded as possible. The practical importance of study u-as aniculated

by a report of the SCM National Council: "We see study as the means through which the

student may find hitherto undiscovered resources which lead to the full realization of life

ofchurch members, For example, in the early 1930s the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order (FCSO) highlighted social service to the neglect of evangelism. David Pluton, "Evan@icalism and the Unired Church of Canada," I 1 I - I 1 7. " Murray Brooks, memorandum. [193 l?], SCM UCA, box 84- 14, National Office Letter Book, 192 1-34. p. 128. '' I bid. 14 For example, a "Commission on the and the World Situation" recorded its belief chat the study of international issues was "a form of action." SCM National Council minutes, 1937. scxr UCA, box 84-93. file 17.

in harmony with the mind and purpose of God as reveaied in Jesus ~hrist.""

As a result of this interest, scxr leaders encouraged students to study the subject of

missions. According to one reference, missions were a way to relate the Christian

message to peoples' lives -'at home as well as abroad."I6 In 1932, SCM leaders suggested

as one topic "To an understanding of Jesus as a Missionary" and strongly encouraged

local units to read and discuss The Present Doy Surnmons by Dr. John R. Mon as a good

introduction to missions." A 1935 list recomrnended two book studies, one n-hich

offered a modem perspective on missionary methods and another which dealt with the

task to build God's Kingdom through an international Christian f e l l o ~ s h i ~ . ' ~ Profoundly

aware of the impact of modemity, leaders believed that an examination of the changing

nature of the missionary enterprise was an important precursor to student rnissionary

activity.

The SCM'S missionary purposes could also be served through studies which

analyzed social issues and related them to Christian principles. Afier all, to be aware was

an important step towards the transformation of society into the Kingdom of God. A

cornmittee explained to the KM National Council in 1935 that social action was "only

justified after thorough study of the issue^."'^ Moreover, this type of study could serve to

interest students in Jesus. The National Council perceived that many students were

attracted to examine Jesus' life "through a previous study of social, economic and ethical

I J "Report of Commission on 'Study'," app. A, SCM National Council minutes, 1938, SCM KA, box 84-94. file 18. Note the allusion to the KM'S constitutional statement of purpose. 16

SCM National Council minutes, 14- I7,2O, 22.24 September 1932, SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 12, p. 8. 17 Ibid., 7-3. 18 "Courses for Study Groups Recornrnended for 193546" (SCM of Canada), [1935?], SCM LTA, B79-0059, box 7, file "Archives 1935-36.'' 19 "Report of the Committee on Social Action," app. B, KM National Council minutes, [ i 9351, SCM UCA, box 84-94. file 15.

problerns under Leaders holding a Christian point of vie^."'^ Thus social-issue groups

had a dual aim: to prepare students to apply Christian beliefs to the world-wide

construction of God's kingdom. and ro interest students in the life and teachings of Jesus.

Suggested studies covered a wide variety of issues. In the eariy 1930s. the SCM

emphasized the study of political movements such as nationalisrn/fascism, Marxism and

capitalism and the challenges which these movements presented to ~hristians." In 1 93 5 ,

leaders considered a number of other questions to be particularly urgent:

(1) What is the Christian conception of property. and what bearing has ir upon private ownership, the use of wealth and the control of the means of production and distribution?

(2) What is meant by the ctass struggle and what is the Christian attitude to it? (3) Granted dissatisfaction with the present state of sociery and the fact that chanse of some kind

is inevitable and is acrually taking place, what is the Christian method of social chanse? (4) In a situation in which practically throughout the world, whether under capitalism or socialism.

the individual is being sacrificed to the comrnunity, what pan has Christianity to play in re-affinning thé value of the individual? In what way does crue Christian community differ From the collectivities which make up society?"

Practical study should also occur on the subject of peace and war. This could take shape

in terms of considering the implications of Christian ethics, identifying the various causes

of war. and outlining the methods of peace propaganda and the activities of pcace

movernents." Five of the twenty recommended studies for 1935-36 focused on aspects

of the world's social and political problems.24

The most immediate social community to be studied was, of course, the colle, me or

universi. campus. Leaders recognized that this seaing, as a microcosm of society,

'O scki National Council minutes. 7- 1 1, 15, 18- 19 September 1935, schf UCA, box 84-94, file 15. " SCM National Council minutes. 14- 17.20,?2,24 September 1932, SCM UCA, box 84-94. file 12, and "Report of the Committee on the Impact of the SCM on the University," app. B, SCM National CounciI minutes, 1 1- 13 Seprember 1933, SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 13. 3-l -- '-Report of the Committee on Social Action," app. B. SCM National Council minutes, [I935], schr KA, box 84-94, file 15. '' .-Repon of the Committee on Peace and War," app. C, SCM National Council minutes, [1935], SCM UCA. bos 84-94, file 1 5. " Tourses for Study Groups Recommended for 1935-36" (SCM of Canada), [1935?], SCM LTA, B79-0059.

increasingly reflected '-the conflicts of the social ~rder."~' They encouraged SCM snidy

groups to direct their attention to a plethora of local problems, such as inadequate student

housing, fratemities, various foms of discrimination, student unemployment,

government restrictions on academic Creedom, faculty-student relationships. and

problems of student governrnent.26

These many concems reflected the SCM'S desire for a relevant and progressive

Christianity and demonstrated its optimism in Christianity's ability to provide reai

solutions for society's problems. In the view of SCM leaders, the study of social concems

should be complemented with practical work. One report elaborated that the scai aimed

to "develop a Christian social conscience" in its students through study and subsequent

action. According to the report, even 'study' was a type of action: it should involve

-'personal contact with social situations including social service projects and political

activity" in addition to reading and discussion. Essentially an indivisible bond should

esist between study and action: effective social action would occur only when

complemented by education conceming social circumstances. and, conversel y. genuine

study included "contact with concrete situations through social s e ~ i c e . " ' ~

It is iikewise ciear that the method of study was nearly as important as the

content: if studies were to bnng students to a deeper understanding of Christian faith and

action, then they m u t be conducted in a certain way. One report listed a variety of

specific requirements. Every participant should be encouraged to contribute to

box 7, file "Archives 1935-36," 1 . " "Repon of Commission on 'Study'." app. A, SCM National Council minutes, [1938]. SCM KA. box 84- 94, file 18, p. 2.

ibid., and SCM National Council minutes, 7- 1 1, 15. 18- 19 September 1935. SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 1 S. " "Repon of the Commirîee on Social Action," app. B. SCM National Council minutes, (I93Sj. SCM KA.

box 84-94, file t S.

discussions with no fear of being slighted. nie format of a study should be open; an

overly directive structure. it tvas assurned. would stifle creative discussion. Whenever

possible, study groups should include men and women. Leaders should be chosen

carefullp, with an awareness of their experience with youth, their ability to communicate.

and their understanding of the nature of student snidy groups. Social occasions, such as

'tiresides' or supper parties. should complement study time. ers also should

personally invite others to join studies. Finaliy, successtLl groups should submit reports

so that other SC.\! unis might benefit."

-4 personal invitation to participate in a study group was viewed as a key method

to spreading the scxr's message. For example, the KM printed a five-page document.

entitled '-On Inviting People To iMake A Study of The Records of the Life of Jesus at a

Summer Seminar." which gave practical suggestions on how to approach siudents and

cven how to answer objections or ex~uses . '~ It was noted that students typically did not

attend a study simply to gain academic knowledge. Rather, friendship was considered to

be a very important factor:

Perhaps the most important cause of attendance by anyone is thac his Fiiends ask him to, and recommend the study. The other reasons for anendance al1 depend on this. The person who has not made the study rnust depend for his knowledge of it upon his Friends. He must accept (or reject) their estimates of its value, its interest, its charm, its challenge, its possibilities. If enough of his friends recommend it strong1y enough he wiil go.'0

The sc.\.i'er should he as tacthl as possible in this persona1 contact; depending on the

prospective member, convincing reasons to attend could range from the deep religious

- - -

Y ..Repon of Commission on .Study'." app. A. ~ C M National Council minutes. [ I 9383. sCM CCA. box 84- 94. file 18, pp. 2-3. 29 "On Inviting People To Make A Study of The Records of the Life of Jesus at a Sumrner Seminar," [1937-381, scbi UTA, B79-0059, box 7, file "Archives 1937- 1938." 50 Ibid., 3.

value to the beaury of the seminar's location and its potential in offering a --glorious

vacation."' ' In addition to its study groups. the SCM promoted other means by uhich its

mission could be accomplished. As has been noted above, the SCM expecred social

service projects and political action to cornplement study. Societal probkms had been

multiplied by the gcneral economic depression of the 1930s. While universities for the

most part endured the financial hardships, many other Canadians were Iess fonunatc. and

the SCM sought to address their needs." The Narionai Council encouraged students to

assist local social n-orkers in addressinç pro blems of famil y welfare, senlement houses.

juvenilr delinquency. and marginalized segments of society." Groups concemed with

such projects and with missions or international issues should, as recommended by one

report. voice their discoveries to other students and to churches. Moreover. they should

cooperatc with othcr colleçe groups. For example, study circlrs concerned with

international peacc should associate with the Student Peace ovem ment.'^

SCM leaders advocated a variety of student gatherings through which to

accompiish their purposes. One report to the National Council suggested "Religion and

Life" weeks. noon-hour addresses? supper meetings, special lectures and firesides by

. - which to attract the interest of, and communicate their ideas to, a wider audience."

Retreats and camps. such as the summer seminar on the life of Jesus mentioned above,

" Ibid., 3-4. '' On univenities and the Depression. see Axelrod, Making a Middle Clars, 19-2 1. Axelrod observes that many educarional institutions underwent severe fiscaI restraints and relied more heavily on student tuition fees to compensate. ironicaily, srudent enrollment continued to increase through the 1920s. though at a much slower pace than in the 1910s. '' '*Repon olCommission on 'Study'," app. A, SCM National Council minutes, [1928], ~ C s i LCA. box 84- 94, file 18. p. 3. See also SC&! National Council minutes, [1937], SChr üch, box 84-94, file 17, pp. 34. 54 SCM National Council minutes, [ I 9371, SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 17, p. 6 . 5 5 "Repon of the Cornmittee on the Impact of the ~ C h r on the University," app. B, SCM National Council

also served to promote discussion and enrich f e i ~ o w s h i ~ . ~ ~ Finally? conferences were

recommended as events which allowed students to focus on one issue from various

perspectives and to connect with their peers. The importance of surnrner conferences \vas

demonstrated in 1929 by the statement that they did -'more dian any other single element

to capture the students for the Kingdom of ~od .""

h o t h e r educational tool advocated bu SCM leaders was lirerature. The s c ~

general secretary appeaied in the early 1930s that the movement should embrace -'the

best scholarship," especially in regards to religion and education." As noted earlicr.

leaders recornrnended various contemporarq. books either to be studied by SCM groups or

to be made available through individual distribution or through their placement on

designated shelves in college libraries. In this process the SCM narional office was ro

serve as a clearing house. from which new publications could be sold to local SCM ~ n i t s . ' ~

The SCM leadership also recornmended vanous student magazines. including the SCM'S

The Canadian Sîiidenr, published from 19 18 untii 1938 (adopted by the scxr at its

inception in 1920-2 l), and desirrd that the WSCF'S The Siudeni Ihrld. published from

1908 until 1969, be placed *.in every SCM room or library.""O

In practice, the $CM taken as a whole appears to have adopted its recommended

programme. Study groups proved to be the core activity of local SCM units and an

analysis of their topics in 1935-6 shows these faithfûily followed national directives. Nor

-- .

minutes, 1 1 - 13 September 1933, SCM KA, box 84-94, file 13. 56 "Report of the Committee on the Impact of the XM on the University," app. A, SCM National Council minutes, [1934], SCM KA, box 83-94, file 14, p. 1. 3 7 [Murray Brooks?], letter, 7 October 1929, SCM UCA, box 84- 14, file "National Office Lener Book, 192 1 - 34," 96, 38 Murray Brooks, memorandum (contldential). [1930 or 193 I?], SCM UCA, bos 34-14. file "National Office Letter Book, 192 1-33," 128. 39 SCM National Council minutes, 14- 17. 20.22.24 September 1922, SCM K.A. box 84-94. file II, p. S. 10 "Report of the Committee on the Impact of the SCM on the University," app. A. scsi National Council

did the programme change drastically fiom year to year.'"

Besides study groups. other prescribed programmes were implemented. The

SCM'S missionary concem also translated itself into the formation of a ~Uissionary

Education Cornminez in 1933 (renamed the Missionary Council in 1936) consisting of

students. SCM secretaies, and representatives of the SVM and the mission boards of the

Anglican. Baptist. Presbyterian and United denominations?' Its stated task was threr-

fold: to educate students about international movements and the world-wide Christian

fellowship: to inform students about specific mission projects and opportunities with

mission boards: and to unite students cornmitted to foreign missions. To assist in

fulfilling this task. the SCM designated one leader as a Missionary Education secretary4'

The SCM'S international concern also took other practical forms. The national

SCM in 1932 presented a pctition signed by 10.000 students to Prime ~Minister R.B.

Bennett encouraging the governrnent to support the reduction of armarnents at the

upcoming Geneva disarmament conference. and in 1936 the Toronto SCM conducted a

minutes, [1934], SCM CA, box 84-94, file 1.1, p. 2 . 4 1 See, for esample. the study group outlines of the University of British Columbia SCM in 1935-36 (scxi L'TA, B79-0059, box 7, file "Archives 193 5- 1936") and the University of Toronto SCM in 1938-39 (SCM L'TA, 079-0059. box 7. file "Archives 1938-1939"). An interesting cornparison cm be drawn between the 20 recommended topics in 1935-36 and 98 actual studies conducted across Canada in 1932-33. Studies of a specificalIy Christian topic recommended in 1935, listed under the headings "On Study of Life of Jesus," "Religious Concepts and the Christian Faith," and "Missions," constituted 12 of the 30 studies (60%). This closely comesponded with the actual studies from 1932-33, listed under similar headings - "Studies of lesus," "Jesus and Life Experiences." and "Miscellaneous Religious Topics" - which total ted 60 out of 9s (6 1.2%). Studies on modem societal problems corresponded almost exactly: 5 of the 20 studies (25O/o) in 1935-36, and 24 of 98 (14.5%) in 1932-33, Beyond these topics, it is unclear whether the 3 remaining recornmended studies in 1935-36 on "The Art of Living" (15%) reiated thematically to the 14 "Miscellaneous" studies (14.5%) in 1932-33. The only significant variance in specific topics was benveen recommended studies of the life of Jesus, totalIy 7 of the 20 (3S%), and actual studies on "Studies of Jesus" and "Jesus and Life Experiences," totally 5 1 of the 98 (52%). "Report of Committee on Study Groups," app. C, scxr National Council minutes, 1 1- 13 Seprember 1933, SCM UCA, box 84-94, file 13, p. 2, and "Courses for Study Groups Recommended for 1935-36" (SCM of Canada), [ 1935?], SCM LTA, B79-0059, box 7, file "Archives 1935-1936.'' '' SCM National Executive Committee minutes, 18 April 1933 and 2 1 May 1936, SCM KA. box 84-56, files "1933" and "1936." a; SCM National Executive Committee minutes, 2 1 May 1936, SCM KA, box 84-56, file 10.

peace service which kvas attended by seven hundred people.u Canadian schi'ers joined

with other students under the umbrella of the WSCF to raise money for the Chinese

victims of the Japanese military presence in Manchuria from 193 1 into the 1940s and the

Spanish Civil War in 1936.''~ In relief of students in China, the Canadian SCM established

a cornmittee in the fa11 of 1937 to inform students and to raise funds. By January 1938: a

total of S 1630.36 had been received, a large portion of which had already been sent to

WSCF headquarters in ~eneva."' Sirnilarly. towards the end of the decade when the threar

of war in Europe accelerated. SCM leaders discussed the formation of a Student War

Relief ~ornmit ter ."~

scxr units across the country also hosted various camps and conferences. In 193 3.

SCM groups at sis universities ran "Setting-up" Conferences for leaders and cornmittee

members before the beginning of the fall term in order tc plan the yea fs progamme and

rekindlc enthu~iasm.'~ Also, every region of the nation held spring camps. Executive

Cornminez minutes from 1937 recorded that successful camps had been hosted by UBC,

Alberta. Saskatchewan. Manitoba, Queen's, McGiIl, Western Ontario, and one or more

schools in the Maritimes. In addition, SCM groups in Monireal and Toronto hosted "City

Ll Gidnq . , "Poisoning the Student Mind?" 10. " .-Repon of the Commission on the SCM and the World Situation," SCM National Council minutes. [ 1937 J. scxr cc.-\. box 84-94. file 17, p. 6 . Regarding the conflict in Manchuria, the SCM adopted the view of the WSCF that Christians shared responsibility "for the injustice and inequitable distribution of this world's resources which are basic causes of most acts of rnititary aggression"; but this did not "make evil less evil." Therefore. although aware of circumstmces in Japan, the WsCF was convinced that Japan's military action was .'a denial of G o d and was subject to His judgment. In response, the student federation commined to do al1 it could to assist: it would aid those working for peace, and it would pray for "al1 sufferers on both sides." SCM National Executive Committee minutes, 6 October 1937, sCM UCA, box 84-56, file 1 1. pp. 1-3. 46 schi National Executive Committee minutes, 6 October 1937 and 25 January 1938, scai LCA. bos 5-1-56, files I l and 12. 17

SCM National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 10 October 1939, SCM UCA, box 84-56, file 13. 4 "Repon of the general secretary for 1933-4," SCM National Council minutes, [ 19341, SCM KA, box 84- 94. The six universities were Dalhousie, McGili, Queen's, Toronto, Manitoba and Albena.

Seminan'- which addressed industrial and social condition^."^

At conferences and other events, Leaders distributed literature recommended by

the national office. In the 1930s, the Canadian SC.\! itself published very little. but rather

relied on other publishers. A significant portion of books were products of the British

SCM Press, which, in the words of the Canadian general secret-. had "become one of

the iargesr and most influential religious publishing houses in the world." In 193 4. the

general secretary observed that annually over the past twelve yrars the SC&! had sold an

average of $1052 worth of books. Since sales had dipped in 1 9 3 3 - 3 (no doubt as a

result of the general economic depression). the general secretary noted that this rmphasis

of the scxl might need more attention? In addition to books. the SCM circulated copies

of The Canadian Srudenr. By mid-decade, the scbr published sis issues annually. twelve

hundred copies per issue, for a net cost of $381. While the SCM acknowledged that

students and graduates valued the magazine. it also questioned whsther it \vas wonh the

time. energy and money spent. The magazine persisted until 1933. when student

representatives finally agreed that The Canadian Sttrdent did not generate much interest

on campuses. Thsy decided to replace it with locally-produced 3 e w s ~ul l r t ins ' ."

Before concluding this extensive discussion of SCM activity. it is hrlpfùl to focus

briefly on one unit, the SCM at the University of Toronto, which in the latter 1930s kept

detailed records of its programme events. An analysis of activities from two years. 1935-

6 and 1937-8, helps to illuminate how the movement expressed its convictions to students

49 SCM National Executive Cornmittee minutes, 14 lune 1937, SCM KA, box 84-56, file 1 1.

50 "Report of the general secretary for 1933-4," SCM National Councii minutes, [ 1931, SCM UCA, box 84- 94, file 14. 5 1 Ibid., and SCM National Council minutes, 8-12, 20 September 1938, SCM KA, box 84-94, file 18.

at the local lsvel."

Yurnerous events were intended to attract students to this SCM unit and give them

space to socialize with their peers. In early September 1935, University of Toronto

students joined those from other Ontario universities at the Central Area Conference at

Lake Couchiching. A month later. students from Victoria CoIlege went for a hike and

then returned for a "folk-dancing pany." In the faIl of 1937, the SCM hosted an

International Tea to welcome foreign students. Some events combined food and

socializing with a presentation or discussion. Towards the beginning of each academic

year. college groups hosted a "Freshies' Tea" for new students, at which someone would

introduce the SCLI'S hnction in the university. Other teas or dinners throughout the year

included talks on thrmes such as Wxistianity and Peace," "Religion in t h Modem

World," and '-Negro Spirituals." Activities early in the semester such as s e l h g candy

(1935) or running a book exchange (1937) funher increased awareness of ths SCM'S

presencs on campus.

The U of T SCM organized a plethora of addresses by intluential speakers rvho

shared the SCM'S asenda - professors. church leaders, rnissionaries. city and university-

administrators. Addresses dealt with religious issues. such as T h e Bible as L iterature."

--The Reaiity of Chnstianity," '-Sorne Aspects of the Christian Doctrine of God," "The

Church and its Worship," "The iMeaning of the Cross," "Prayer," and "Chrisrianity and

Poetry." ln euly December 1935, likely in preparation for an upcoming WM Convention

(which ninety-five Toronto delegates attended), SCM meetings concentrated on the theme

of missions. At one meeting students spoke about their "Mission Experiences." The next

day an address was given on "The Modem World," and the following week medical

'' SCM lists of student activities, 1935-6 and 1937-8. scxr UTA, B79-0059, box 16.

students heard a speaker from Africa talk about --The Lure of Medical Missions." Orher

addresses throughout the nvo years related Chnstianity to aspects of society such as the

modem state and the labour movement.

Various speakers also confkonted a wide range of social issues. Some concemed

the student world. such as the student's relationship to the community or the student's

place in a world of*-Communism, Fascism and Student ;Movements." Others focused on

civic issues such as prison systems and Toronto's slurns: particular attention was given to

the latter issue in 1 9 3 - uithin the month of November the SCM hosted two addresses on

--slum clearance" and invitzd Toronto's reform-minded mayor, James Simpson. to talk

about --What Toronto is Doing About the Housing Report." scai addresses also reflrcted

the movement's international outlook. In the fa11 of 1935 the SCM conducted a series of

three lectures on world peace: '-Prospects of Peace in Abyssinia," "The League of

Nations." and %mctions and ~ a c i fism.""

.A few events sought directly or indirectly to correct societal ills. The national

SCM drive to raise funds in relief of students in China was begun at the University of

Toronto in 1937 with a rea at which Dr. T.Z. Koo, a leader of the Chinese SCM. spokc.

The sclr also worked to correct the more immediate problems of Toronto's poor bu

occasionally -entenaining' unernployed persons in a local house.

Finally. every few years the U of T SCM employed a much more traditional

method of evangelism: the campus mission, also k n o m as 'Religion and Life ~ e e k s . ' "

'' Other ralks in 1935-36 and 1927-38 concerned Africa. Abyssinia [Ethiopia], race relations in South Afiica. students and Christianity in China, the British relationship with India, and the threat of war in Europe. In Novernber of bath 1935 and 1937 a leader of the Chinese SCM, Dr. T.Z. Koo, addressed large student assemblies organized by the SCM in the University's Convocation Hall. '' Accordins to Douglas Johnson. this method of presenting Christianity to smdenrs originared at Cambridge in 1882 when the evangelical student group brought in the American evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey; fiom this point on, student groups at Cambridge and other British

In 1939 the scar at U of T deemed that since four years had passed since the last campus

mission, another \vas overdue if the $CM \vas to comrnunicate lesus' message to every U

of T graduate. The event's expressrd purpose was clearly evanoelistic: - T o confront the

> - undergraduates with the daims of Jesus Christ. and to [vin their allegiancs ro Him.."'

Elsewhere the week's aim was descnbed to be '?O iead undergraduates ro a vital faith in

God as revealed in Jesus Christ. the Saviour and Lord of life and to a thorough personal

commitrnent to his cause in the ~ o r l d . " ' ~

This task was to be accomplished in a vanety of ways. The week began xirh a

Sunday service in Convocation Hall, attendcd by seven hundred and fifiy people.

predominantly students. A visiting speaker preached on T h e Vision of God." based on

the verse -*BIessed are the pure in heart for the? shall ses God" (Mattheu. 5 : s ) .

Throughout the w e k , male students heard talks on persona1 religion: -'I Believe in

Chnsr." -*I Believe in Prayer," '-Christianity and Imer Power." and "What Religion

Means to Me." Female students listened to addresses conceming womanhood.

relationships between women, men and God. and "What Christianity Means to Me."

Space and tirne was also provided for quiet prayer.57

-4s part of the mission, the SCM conducted a Sunf ey of fifieen percent of the

student population conceming their religious aninides. The results. published in the

university ne wspaper, may have been surprising to schi 'ers: the suri-e y rewaled that

--

universities commonly ran missions every three years. In Canada, campus missions were introduced only as colleges drew away fiom the control of Protestant denominations. Johnson. Conrendhg for rhe Failh, 54-56. " Repon of the Religion and Life Week cornmittee. 11 9393, scxi UT& 879-0059, box 73. file "scat. U of T. Religion & Life Week 1939." 36 "Student Christian hlovement in the University of Toronto News Bulletin.'. 3. no. 2 (March 1939). scsi UTA, B79-0059, box 15, file "SCM in U of T Ne1.v~ Bulletin." 57 Report of the Religion and Life Week cornmittee, [1939], SCM UTA, 879-0059, bos 23, file "SC>!. U of T, Religion & tife Week 1939."

religion and specifically Chnstianity remained a pervasive force on campus. For

example. 74 % of students considered themselves religious, 5 1 % described Jesus Christ

as a teachsr. 49 % as divine Saviour, and 40 % as the Son of God, and 74 ?h believed in

prayer and 57 % categorized it more specifically as "communion with God." The

newspaper report gave no statistics conceming God but stated that students characterized

God more ofien as a benevolent Father than as intelligence. Non-traditional responses

were minimal: I O % of students surveyed considered religion to be --an illusion7 opiate

and intellectual suicide." 2 1 % described themselves as agnostics and 5 % as atheists, 7

% characterized Jesus as a l egendq figure and I % as a religious fanatic. and 18 %

described prayer as '-wishful thinking?' and 17 % as "auto-suggestion" (this term.

connoting prayer as a psychological effect, \vas not e ~ ~ l a i n e d ) . ' ~

In the task of this university mission, the U of T SCM invited the cooperation of

the local Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship group. IVCF representatives stipulated that

the week's purpose must be "the w i ~ i n g of souls for Christ," and the keynote leader of

the mission should be evangelical, one who would sign IVCF'S statement of faith. Afrer

some discussion, the two groups couid not agree on a leader; therefore, the SCM officially

sponsored the mission and requested that two 1vc~'ers ~ i t on the planning cornmittee."

One would think, in light of the mission's purpose, that IVCF would have been

eager to accept the scu 's invitation. The scar's intent to win students' "allegiance" to

Jesus Christ appears to have corresponded very well with IVCF'S emphasis on "the

wiming of souls for Christ.'' However, Inter-Varsity must have perceived some real

- -

58 "Student Christian Movement in the University of Toronto News Bulletin," 2, no. 2 (March 3 939). SCM UTA. 879-0059, box 15, file "sCL~ in U of T News BuIletin." 59 Report of the Religion and Life Week comminee, [1939], SCM WA, 879-0059. box 23, file "SCM, U of T, Religion & Life Week 1939."

differences of philosophy which precipitated their refusal to CO-sponsor the mission

week. This raises the question, was IVCF'S activism sharply divergent fiorn the SCM'S?

From the beginning, JVCF had determined part of its approach to Canadian

students through cornparison with the activity of die s c ~ . In 193 1 the first ~ V C F general

secretary. Noel Palmer, noted the common hope of both movements for a practical

Christianity but belirved that the SCM'S focus on social and political issues \vas too self-

conscious. Inter-Varsity members, in Palmer's view, should be aware of -'the great

questions of the day" and should participate in solutions. but this practical concem should

flow automatically "Like a fragrance" from a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. Palmer

encouraged IVCF students to communicate Christianity to others not through social

activisrn but rarher through evangelism - the verbalization of one's belief in and

esperiencr of Jssus. ". . . Chnstianizing the nations," asserted Palmer, "has ever been the

inevitable but mighty by-product of evangelizing them."60 Likewise, C. Stace)? Woods,

the genrrol secretary active from 1934 into the next decade, also interpreted the SCU'S

philosophy to be --that if one could only change the worId and its environment, rhis xould

inevitably result in changed men and women." In contrast. said Woods, IVCF revened the

order of this process: -*the ultimate salvarion of society" would be brought about

prirnarily through "the salvation of individual men and ~ o m e n . " ~ '

IVCF leaders, contrary to many SCM leaders who embraced the liberal emphases of

higher education, considered the college or university environrnent to be part of the

society in desperate need of Christianity; thus they encouraged IVCF members to take

advantage of oppominities to evangelize their peers. One leader described the Christian

60 Noel Palmer, "Our Relationship to the Student Christian Movement," Ms [cirafi], [193 11, IVA, unlabelled box, file '+iistory - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 3.

student as "a privileged evangelin among a significant and needy class*' and ureed Y

churches not to over-involve student rnemben in church activities but rathrr to "fling

every resource" into the '-vital and pregnant mission-field'' of the u n i ~ e n i t ~ . ~ ' Similarly.

in 1938 a secretary w m t e to a prospective Queen's University medical student that --a

Christian Student has a real opportunity in what 1 believe to be the most difficuIt field in

the world," and characterized the university as a place -'net conducive to sou1 saving

work"; lectures, for example, were ofien "detrimental to spiritual thing~.'.~' IVCF leaders

were convinced that evangelism was the most efficient way ta comrnunicate the Christian

message on a secular, and sornetimes hostile. university campus.

.As a result of this conviction, a prirnary role of ~ V C F leaders was to educaie

students to evangelize their peers. Where SCM leaders rducated their members about the

life oiChnst and the application of his teachings in the modem world. ~ V C F leaders

taught about the importance of having a relationship with Christ and seeking to tell othsrs

about him. This basic message was communicated to [\..CF students through a variety of

means.

In 193 1 IVCF'S general secretary wote a document entitled '-Witnessing for

Christ." to be used as a basis for discussion at the annual conference. in which he outlined

various personal characteristics necessary for effective e~an~e l i s rn .~ ' The most obvious

need, in his mind, was courage, since Christian students were, quite naturally, nervous

about making "a firm stand for God" on their respective campuses. Complrmentary to

courage was faith, a conviction that the Christian message was sound and that Christ was

6 1 C. Stace' Woods, Growth of a Work of God, 94. " Report. [early I~SOS?]. [VA, box 1 , file "History of the IVF in Canada ( 193 1-36):- 63 Charles Troutman to Claude Vipond, 23 September 1938, IV;\, box 3, file "Charles Troutman, QC." 6i Noel Palmer, "Witnessing for Christ," Ms [draft], [ 192 Il. !VA, unlabelled box, file "History - the Rev F.

at work "behind the scenes." Moreover. students needed to be patient in the task of

evangelisrn. The secretary suggested that individuals keep a record of whom they were

seeking to evangelize and leave a space to write in the date on which the person chose to

becorne a Christian. In addition. students must ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom in regard

to what to say in a witnessing opportunity. They should also be honest, humble and

fkiendly. Finaliy. Christian students should have a vital spirituality. which essentially

meant a moral strength gained fiom the "indwelling" of Chxist in one's life. Indeed, al1

these characteristics the secretary traced to a relationship with Christ. Genuine

Christians. in his view. would naturally expenence opportunities to share their

convictions because others would be drawn in by their winsome character.

it should be cmphasized that for ivcF leaders devotional activities necessady laid

the groundwork for evangelistic activities. Evangelistic success wouid corne. according

to one IYCF representative. not through "dever campaigns" or "the most orthodox

theology" or "the most esact training," but rather through a vital relationship with

~ h r i s t . ~ '

Leaders recommended a number of specifically evangelistic events. One of the

most successful \vas the "squash." a casual student gathering in a private residence; the

concept had originated in Britain, and was named thus because rooms were ofien filled to

capacitj? An IVCF general secretary described a typical squash:

Private invitations are given out, usually by word of mouth, and when the day arrives each yes t is introduced co the hostess, while the Company get mutually acquainted, and so on. Refieshrnents are ofien served, first if the hour is afiemoon, or last if it is evening. Quite naturally and without any appearance of being forced, choruses or hymns are introduced, and a brief pointed testimony and message are given by

Noel Palmer." 05 Judson H. Merrirt, "Our Missionary Prospect," TMs, 1936, NA, unlabelled box, file "C.S.W. 1934-4 I,.' 2-3.

Troutman. "Backgrounds of Evanplical University Witness," 76.

some professiona1 man or other suitable speaker. This may lead to other es tempore testimonies, or discussion. and prayer. Always pnyers. The meeting breaks up as informally as it began, -gadually slipping back into a pleasant social occasion, while the guests cake their leave in the usual way. But it may frequently happen that a few w il1 have been deeply touched, and opportunity shouki be unobtrusively given for such to remain and taik things over seriously with some of the leadex6'

Thus careh1 attention was given to rnake students feel important, through private

invitation, and cornfortable, through meeting in a home, serving refieshments. and

allowing for timr to socialize. A certain element of planning the event \vas necessq,

but some freedom should exist for spontaneous testimonies or funher conversations

between leaders and interested students. Through the squash, leaders hoped to arrange a

contest in which students would not feel threatened but where at the same time thsre

would be a clear Christian message and an opportunity for students to respond.

~ V C F also encouraged local units to conduct campus missions. These also had

been developed by evangelical students in Britain; a speaker was brought in to deiivrr a

series of addresses ovsr the course of a few days, and Christian students were trained to

follow up contacts made dunng the mission. As was the case with the schc's campus

missions. IVCF encouraged its units to lead a campus-wide evangelistic effort often

enough that every student generation be reached (typically every three to four years).68

.As outlined by the Canadian general secretary in 193 1, speakers in these carnpaigns were

to be carefully selectcd. the addresses were to be advertised well through both print and

word of mouth, and students were to pray in preparation for the mission. Afier each

meeting had concluded formally, Christian students were to approach others in order to

67 Noel Palmer, "Our Purpose, Programme, & Problems," Ms [draft], [193 11, IVA, unlabelled box, file "Histor-y - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 4-5. Some cornparisons could be made with the "house-parties" of the Oxford Group in the early l%Os, which likewise issued personal invitations, aimed for a relaxing. cornfortable atmosphere, and gave prominence to personal testimonies. See blarshall, Secularizing the Faiih, 2 16-1 17. 68 Troutman. "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Wimess," 76.

"in a fnendly way see if any immediate spiritual help can be given. or decisions reached."

Experience had shown, he stated. that either immediate or eventuai conversions occurred

as a result of these t a l k ~ . ~ ~

Literature was yet another means of training students and spreading the Christian

message. But in the inter-war years, literature useful for evangelical students was in short

supply. By this time most universities and collegrs had become more secular. and the

voice of evangelical scholarship on campus had become muted." This had resulted in a

militant response on the part of fundamentalist writers. One i v c ~ secretan. recallcd

evangelical books published in the 1930s which vilified the universities as bastions of

secularism, books with eye-catching titles such as Crctczfying Chrisr in otw Colkges:

Pois011 Peddlers; The Vonishing Virgin; or The Shzrghter of ~nnocence.'~ Rather than

using these, ~ V C F leaders resigned thernselves to make use of a few second-hand or

library books which dealt with evangelical ropics; usually thrse dated from rhs nineteenth

centw. Moreover. ~ V C F tumed to the British Inter-Varsity Press (IVP). uhich had only

recently been set up to publish evangelical literature geared towards students." In i 936.

69 Noel Palmer. "Our Purpose, Programme, & Problems," Ms [drafi]. (193 II, r u . unlabrlled bos, file "History - the Rev F. Noel Palmer," 5. ' On the secularizing shifi within Canadian collepes and universities. see Gauvreau. Evongrlicd Crnrirq-, and D.C. illasters, Prorestanr C h c h Colfeges in Canada: ri Hisros, (Toronto: Universiv of Toronto Press, 1966). The displacernent of evangelical scholarship fiom mainsneam cuiture was also evidenr in the corresponding emergencs of a string of alternative evangeiical institutions. typically training schools for Christian workers rather than acadernic centres, in the 1930s and 1930s. See Wright, "Canadian Protestant Tradition 19 14- 1945." 164- 167, and Roben K. Burkinshaw, "Evangelical Bible Co1le;es in Twentieth- Century Canada," in Aspects ofrhe Canadian Evangelical Erperience, ed. Rawiyk, 369-384. On Prairie Bible Institute see Stackhouse, Canadian Evangelicalism and on Toronto Bible College and the London College of Bible and Missions see Austin, "History of OBC." The same trend towards the rejection of evangelical scholarship in the universities and the founding of evangelical schools is noted on the American side by Nol1 in Brnveen Fairh and Critic~sm and The Scandai of lhe Evangelicol .\lind (Grand Rapids. Ml: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994) and by ,Marsden in Reforming Fundarnenralism. 7 1 Troutman, "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Witness," 158. It is unclear whethsr the books were published in the United States or Canada. Troutman worked with the Canadian IVCF in the late 1930s before concentrat ing on American universities. " The Canadian IVCF'S evidently British orientation corresponds well with Mark Noll*s argument

the national IVCF office becarne the officia1 Canadian distributor of IVP books and

magazines, in the hopes that not only religious bookstores but also students and leaders

would avail themselves of this more relevant material."

Leaders also hoped to foster an awareness of foreign missionary activity. One

I V C F ' ~ ~ noted, in a repon written in 1936 on IVCF'S missionary programme. that acmal

mission-related events might V a r y from campus to campus. depending on "local needs."

However. missionary prayer meetings, 9irst-class" missionary speakers, literature, and

specific discussion groups were considered to be essential activities. In addition, some

f o m of contact with foreign missionaries. at least one missionary study group per tem.

and a small library were strongly suggested. Somehow, appealed the report. mission-

minded students should be coordinated into a type of fellowship, such as a weekly

meeting for prayer and discussion. Beyond these, local groups could exercisc their

creativity. ~Moreover the report issued a clear cal1 to missionary action: giving money

was a good stan, but needs were great, especially in areas such as China and Xfi-ica.

These consisted not only of financial dernands but also of the desperate cal1 for "specific

and well-informed praycr" and an awareness that "the evangelisation of the world is not

just the mysterious calling of a few, but the responsibility of every ~hr is t ian ." '~

In practice, WCF units across Canada supplemented the above with orher

svangelistic means. One idea was the "News Tearn," practiced by the Church A m y of

the Anglican Church in England and applied by students at the University of Toronto in

concerning American evangelicals who during the 1930s likewise imported British evangelical literature. See especially chaps. 3 and 4 of NoII, Benveen Fuith and Criticism. On the British inter-Varsity Press, see ibid., 52-85 and I O 1 - 102, and chap. 18 of Douglas Johnson's Contending for the Faith. .- " C. Stacey Woods to Douglas Johnson, 7 May and I 1 June 1936, and Douglas Johnson to C. Stacey Woods, 18 'May 1936, ru, box 3, file " 1935-36 British [VCF." Johnson informed C. Stacey Woods (18 May) that the British ivF would supply literature at cost (except for shipping, and this was hoped to be done inexpensively through the regular transatlantic shipments of the Children's Special Service Mission).

1937. In an article published as a Canadian entry in the British Inter-Varsity's magazine. - a student leader explained that students were not alaays interested in listening to an

exegcsis of a biblical text. But an account of one's persona1 Christian espsrience \vas

*-always news to others the fi rst time they hear it." Thus Chnstian students who were

"able to witness to a vital experience of Christ'? and were "eager to \vin souls" banded

together to form a '-News Team." At the University of Toronto, the team planned a meal

at a popular student cafe near campus, and each member invited a student who -'did not

profess to be a Christian." Dimer was followed by brief testimonies by four team

mernbers of Christ's influence in their Iives and an informal discussion about

Christianity. According to the student leader's report: guests responded with questions

such as --What is your idea of God?" "What difference would it make to the Christian

religion if Christ did not really rise from the dead?" "How can the death of Christ Save

us?" and "Why do you irisist that the Bible has divine authority when it contradicts itseif

in somc places?'' The student leader felt that in answering these questions. team

mernbers were "able in a general way to preach ail the essentials of the gospel."i' These

students were convinced that an anecdotal, persona1 presentation of the Christian message

was a more effective evangelistic method than formal addresses on abstract religious

concepts.

Student testimonies were also features of larger meetings and rallies. A 1934

poster displayed at Huron College in London, Ontario announced: "Hear 3 Varsity

Students speak on What Christ Means to ~ e . " ' ~ A representative of the University of

" Judson H. Merritt. -*Our Missionary Prospect." TMs. (19363, i v ~ , unlabelled box, tile s C S . W . 19344 I .'* " Stade? E. Smith. ..A .News Team' in the University of Toronto." Canadian Supplement to British IVFEU

magazine. 5 April I927, NA, box 3. ' 6 Poster, 17 November 1934. NA, box I . file "History of the ivF in Canada (193 1 -36)."

Western Ontario K C F group explained in 1934 that at their Sunday evening evangeiistic

meetings. held once or twice each month, sntdents spoke except for '-on special

occasions." because '3t has been found that the witness of a student to the saving polver

of Jesus Christ, even if delivered in weakness, is usually more impressive to his fellow

- -. students than the most eloquent sermon delivered by a minister."" Apparently

testirnonies could rrsult in imrnediate conversions. A general secretary described one

unidentified meeting at which a number of students talked about '-the power and reality of

Christ in their lives." followed by informal discussion in groups of two or three. Five

snidents. he reponed. "decided for ~hrist."'~ Testirnonies by IVCF members were also an

important part of evangelistic student rallies on campuses across ana da."

rvc~ secretaries shared responsibility for evangelism in a variet?; of contests. in

addition to their teaching role, thcy sought to be practical evangelists. The first general

s e c r e t q wote that he and other leaders had been very successhl in convening students

on an individual b a ~ i s . ~ ~ r K F leaders also considered public addresses to be rvangelistic

opportunities. One secretary was aided in his evangelistic appeal at Mount Royal College

in Calgary by the principal? who, afier the secretary spoke at a collrge chape1 service in

1938, challenged students persona11 y to answer the question. %"at think ye of ~ h r i s t ? " ~ '

Other evangelistic attempts were more indirect. One secretary aimed in a series of talks

to counter the conclusions of psychology in regard to Christian experience. The last

77 Coggan, ed., Chrisr andrhe Colleges, 167. The author (or authors) of the chapter dealing with "The Canadian Universities," undoubtedly tiom a Canadian perspective, is unnamed. 78 Noel Palmer, "Reporr fiom the Collcges and Schools," February 1933, [VA, box 1 , file "History of the IVF in Canada (1 93 1-36)." 79 See, for esample, Ross O. Young to C. Stacey Woods, 12 March 1937, [VA. box 1 . file '*Material of Historic tnterest (1937-39)," and Belva Atkinson. weekly report, 28 March - i Xpril 1938, IVA. box 3. file "Conespondence Belva Atkinson, ON." 80 Noel Palmer, "Report from the Colleges and Schools." February 1933, IVA, box 1 . file "History of the IvF in Canada ( 1 93 1 -36)."

address in the series was planned to be .'a very plain presentation of the ~ o s ~ e l . ' ? ~ '

h o t h e r secretap discussed "Vital Problems on the Campus" with a group of female

Snident conferences. on either a local or national level. were also popular means

to advance IVCF'S message. A Winnipeg student conference in 1938 resulted in a number

of conwrsions. The programme consisted of an afiemoon message. followed by

discussion groups. an informa1 supper, then student testimonies and an evening address.

The key tvangelistic address. delivered by a prominent Canadian professional.

ernphasizcd the centralit. of Iesus in the Christian faith." From its outset, IKF

organized annual national conferences. The 1936 conference, in Guelph. Ontrino. had a

programme similar ro the Winnipeg conference: devotional messages. studies on Jesus'

rssurrection and its implications, free time for recreation, and evening fireside

discussions and missionary addresses. Plannen hoped to bring in three influential and

rducated outsiders. prrhaps to speak or to lead the studies on lesus. It was clrarly statcd

rhat any university student was welcome to attend, regardless of whether he or she had

previously been involved with an IVCF group.''

In addition to such forrns of witness, IVCF hlfilled the wish of its national office

to distri bute li terature. According to the general secretary, in 1 93 7 IVCF workcd to

establish an IVCF book shelf in each university (presumably those carnpuses on which an

R I Jim Forrester, report, 16 February 1938, [VA, box 3, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada." '' Jirn Fonester to C. Stacey Woods. repons, 30 December 1937 and 1 9 January 1 938. IVA, box 3. file -.Jim Forrester, W. Canada." d' Belva Arkinson, weekly repon. 23-30 October 1937, [VA, box 3, file "Conespondence Belva Atkinson. ON." 33 Cathie Nicoll, repon on "Winnipe; Conference," 26 February 1938, !VA, box 3, file "Cathie Nicoll. Winnipeg." The speaker was R. Hall Glover, medical doctor and Fellow of the Royal Geogaphical Society. " Newslener. 1936, ivr, box 9. file '*University Chapten (Cdn.) '36-'42."

IVCF unit existed). T t is hoped," said the secretary, 90 make available the best in

Christian Evidences, -4poIogetics and Missionary Endeavour to Canadian university

students." Beginning in the mid-1930s. the British Inter-Varsity Press shipped numerous

books and leaflets. Sorne of these were of a devotional nature. such as a guidebook for

devotions. '-The Quiet Time." and a bible study course. 3earch the Scnptures." Others

concerned the subjsct of evangelism. such as a leaflet entitled -'Evangeiize to a Finish''

and a book entitled Effecrire Wi~irness.'~ To encourage the missionary endeavour. WCF

distributed five hundred free copies of an Inter-Varsity Press biography of a well-known

English cricketer and student, C.T. Snidd, who had devoted his life to Christian

missionary work in china." The Canadian lVCF also circulated the British Inter-Varsity

Fellowshi p's studenr magazine." Occasional reference was made in IVCF study groups to

books bu British --outstanding evangelicals" such as Arnbrose Fleming, Rendle Short and

Basil ~tkinson. '~ Leaders also handed out the pamphlets of the prominent McGill

scientist Dr. W. Bell Dawson in which he challenged the conclusions of evolutionary

theory and the highsr cnticism by arguing that scientific findings confirmed rather than

subvrned the ~ i b l t . ' " At least one JWF unit, at the University of Alberta- placed Bibles

in the local university libra-y' courtesy of the ~ i d e o n s . ~ '

KCF rnembcrs demonstrated a missionary interest in other ways besides reading

36 C. Stace>- Woods to Douglas Johnson, 27 September and 16 December 1935, and D.H.A. Christie- .Murray to C. Stacey Qroods, I I Novernber 1935, WA, box 3, file "1935-36 British IVCF." Y7 C. Stacey Woods, gensral secretary's report ( 1 936-27), 30 September 1937, [VA, unlabelled box, file -.;4,*4 1 ." 9s In 1939 the ~ V C F Board o f Directors recognized that a more indigenous publication needed to take the place of this magazine but considered the Canadian office ill-equipped to take on this task. IVCF Board of Directors minutes, 19 January 1939, r u , filing cabinet, binder "Minutes, Board of Directors, 20 Jan. 1936 - 16 Oct. 1951." Bepinning in the 1940s. the Canadian movement circulated an American IVCF magazine. 99 lim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods. 20 Januaiy 1939. /VA, box 4, file "Correspondence: Jim Forrester (Western Canada) 1938-39.''

C. Stacey Woods. general secretary's repon (1936-37). 30 Seprember 1937, WA. unlabelled box, file

books or listening to missionary speakers. One such means was ro krep in contact with

snidents who had gone away on foreign missions. In 1935 WCF established Missionaq

Secretaries in a number of universities in order to act as a liaison benveen students and

missionaries and to organize those interested in missions. According to one I V C F ' ~ ~ . by

1936 ar ieast sixteen former students (presumably from the entire national movement)

had become rnissionaries. Letters kept Cacadian ivcF members informed about the

international scope of evangelisrn. In addition, Inter-Varsity groups hosted different

foms o i meetings on the theme of missions. such as discussion and study circles.

addresses by rnissionaries, secretaries or other visitors, prayer meetings. and informal

gatherings over a nea al.^'

.As with the SCM unit at the University of Toronto. a closer examination of one

WCF group. at McGill University in the latter half of the 1 9 3 0 ~ ~ helps to illuminate how

the movemrnt sspressed its convictions at the local level. The fall semestrr of 1936

began wirh a Sunday evening tea. a type of meeting corresponding to the "squashes'-

described above. It rvas reported that over one hundred and twenty students attended.

The main speaker. Dr. R. Hall Glover, a medical missionary and Fellow of the Royal

Geographical Society. gave a talk on the Christian faith. followed by an informa1 account

of his persona1 Christian experience and a description of missions opportunities in

hin na.^' The varied content of Glover's talk and informai discussion. which ranged from

an appeal for students to follow Christ to an elucidation of missionary needs. suggests

that this type of event served multiple purposes. Persona1 anecdotes and an exhortation to

'"24-'4 1 ." 91 D.E. Cameron (University of Alberta Iibrarian) to Gideons secretary, I O blarch 1936. [VA. box 1 . 91 Judson H. Merritt, "Our Missionary Prospect," TMs, [l936], [VA, unlabelled box, file "C.S. W. 19344 1 ." " "Missionary Head Addressed WCF Meeting Sunday." newspaper clipping [likely the dkGilf Doily]. 10

study Christian precrpts would have been directed at students who lvere retatively

unfamiliar nith the Christian faith. On the other hand, GLover7s cal1 for students to be

rnissionaries in China would have been directed to Christian students. Through this

evening tea, then. KCF leaders hoped to present the Christian message to sezkers and to

awaken Christian snidents to the worldwide missionary endeavour. On the heels of the

evenino - tea the IYCF group planned to host a luncheon at which a missionary-explorer

who had recentlg retumed from intenor Brazil and the upper Amazon would ~ ~ e a k . ~ ' '

The following year. the McGill IVCF included similar events in its programme.

For esample, the Sunday cvening --squashes" c~nt inued.~ ' Likewise. the [\.CF group

continued to invite professional and missionary speakers. A.J. Nesbitt, a prominent

Montreal businessman, one-time govemor of iMoody Bible Institute in Chicago and

financial supponer of IVCF. gave an address at McGill on "Chnstianity and rhe Studenr."

He encouraged students in the rnidst of a darkening world to remrmber thar cheerhlnrss

and peace could be found in Jesus Christ. Cheerhlness resulted from lesus' promise of

forgiveness and relief from suffering. In response to the threat of war in Europe. Nesbitt

expressed his belisf that obedience to Christ was the only remedy.96 In Deccmber 1937.

a missionary from French Equatorial Africa spoke at a breakfast meeting. atxnded bu

twenty-sis people (including sisteen newcomers), and at a Friday evening meeting.

attended by thirty-five. At the Friday meeting the missionary showed slides and talked

about the sociological features of the region; announcements of this event in .CLcGill

--

October 1936, IVA, bos 4, file "Troutman Corresp. 1939 [?]." 9J 1 bid. " Charles Troutman, %ter-Varsi. and InterJchool Christian Fellowship Secretarial Information. P.Q. 1937-33," [1937-381, [VA, box 4, file "AnnuaI Reports - C. Troutman." 96 Newspaper clippings. attached to Charles Troutman, reports, 1937-38, [VA, box 3, file "Correspondence: C. Troutman, Quebec." A.J. Nesbitt was the president of three companies: Nesbitt, Thomson & Co., Ltd., the Canadian Northem Power Corporation, and the Power Corporation of Canada. He also sac on the board

socioiogy classes brought eighteen sociology students to the

Despite the evangelistic efforts made in 1936-37. in the next academic year the

.LlcGiIl group derermined to be even more diligent in evangelism. The yearw s programme

included a mission to be conducted by Howard Guinness, the British Inter-Varsity

evangciist who had given impetus to the formation of the Canadian IVCF in 1928-~9 .~ ' ln

addition. the group planned to publish a senes of articles on the Bible in the ?/lrGill

Doilj. Various tracts were collectcd to aid Christian students in their personal contacts.

Generally the IYCF group airned to focus on persona1 rather than corporate evangelisrn.

Perhaps to this end. the unit discontinued campus church services ivhich it had led in the

99 p s t .

1,loreover. rhe local secret- listed various Inter-Varsity Press publicarions which

he plamcd to sel1 to studcnts. These almost exclusively dealt with issues of practical

Christian living - and evangelism. - Included were Eflective Wilness (author unkno~n) .

Robert Wilder's I,klinnt in Fighr, and Sacrifice ( 1 936) by Howard Guinness. The latter

book u-as an urgent and bold appeal for students to hold nothing back in their service to

Christ. ! '''1 Others listed w r e a book of Christian apologetics entitled lYhy ihe Cross? and

the history of the British Inter-Varsity Fellowship by F. Donald Coggan, entitlsd Cltrisr

and the Colkges ( 193 4). l o i Norman P. Grubb's biography of a well-known British

sponsman-tumed-missionary, C. T. Studd. Cricketer and Pioneer ( 1 935), was added to

of direcrors of nurnerous Canadian public utilities firms. 97 Charles Troutrnan. report, 13 Decernber 1937, IVA, box 3, file "Charles Troutman, QC." 99 In the end Guinness wrts unabls to corne to Canada to conduct the McGill mission. 9'3 Charles Troutman. "Inter-Varsity and Inter-School Christian Fellowship Secretarial Information, P.Q. 1937-38." ( 1 937-381. W.+, box 4, file "Annual Repons - C. Troutrnan." 100 Guinness. Howard W.. Sm-rfice: A Challenge io Christian Yotlrh (London: Inter-Varsin Fellowship. 1936). 10 1 Charles Troutman, "inter-Varsity and Inter-School Christian Fellowship Secretarial Information, P.Q. 1937-38," [I937-381, IVA, box 4, file "Annual Reports - C. Troutman." F. Donald Coggan taught for a few

the McGill library in the 1938-39 academic year.'O'

The McGill IVCF'S activities and emphases clearly retlected those of the national

movement. Students understood the priority which [VCF gave to evangelism. To this end

they hosted squashes. lectures. and casual gatherings at which WCF'S evangelical message

was voiced. Moreover they emphasized student testirnonies as an effective method of

evangelism. Leaders also distributed Christian tracts which could be handcd on to friends

and books which taught students about missions and evangelism. Other types of svents

suggested by the national leadership. such as the campus mission. were not anempted by

the McGill group. This reveals that the rnovement gave freedom to local units to be

creative as long as IVCF'S basic aim to evangelize was carried out. The laricd outreach

ac tivi ties of the McGill IVCF demonstrated the members' enthusiasm to cornmunicare

their esperience of Christ to others. rither within the university contest or in distant

lands.

Some key sirnilarities emerge from a cornparison of the SCM'S and I ~ ~ C F ' s

evangelistic efforts across the country. First of all. leaders of borh movemtnts

occasionally acknowledged a lack of success in the attempts to convey Christianity to

others. .An IVCF secretary at a western university lamented in 1937 that evangelistic

methods had "not been such as might appeal to the campus mentality." '-1 found svidencr

of last year's anempts," he illustrated, "in tracts çontaininç mutilated ponions of

Scripture, signed WCF, and distributed freely arnongsr the students. The bulletin board

announcement too was scrawled out in poor handwriting upon an odd scrap of paper."

Such observations led him to conclude that the membership suffered from "an inferiority

-

years at Wycliffe College in Toronto; ht {vent on to become the Archbishop of Canterbury and then York. 102 C. S m e y Woods to Jack Burgar, 20 January 1939, IV;\, bos 1, file "blaterial of Historic lnrerest ( 1937-

~ o r n ~ l e x . " ' ~ ~ One SCM member reminisced that despite al1 the effort to be relevant. the

scsi's activities had been "too often remote from the actual realities of community Me.

abstiact and somtwhat hypothetical.'''w While respectively their core understandings of

Christianity did not Vary considerably over the years, both IVCF and the SC>! recognized

the need to be continually innovative in the presentation of these understandings.

Thus. while purposes differed hndamentally. ofien the methods of die two

movements were comparable. Both ran events which blended social and educational

elernents. For erample. the Toronto scbr's "Freshies' teas" and the McGill r v c ~ ' ~

Sunday evening teas and -'squashes" equally sought to attract student interest in their

respective activities. Likewise both the SCM and IVCF conducted camps. conferences.

public addresses by prominent profsssionals. campus-wide missions and various events

of a purely religious or social nature. Moreover the roies of the SCM'S Missionary

Education Secretary and IVCF'S iMissionary Sccretary wzre similar. Final!?. the national

offices of both organizations distributed books and magazines to local unirs. Ofien this

literature was British in origin: American or Canadian works were more prevalent in SCM

circles. but WCF did find a few to be usefui.

Both movrments likewise showed an awareness of current issues. .Again,

responses to these issues diverged sharply, and it could generally be said that the SCM'S

knowledge of social concems and interest in providing Christian solutions to them ran

deeper than IVCF'S. Nonetheless a cornparison of the two movements' activities reveals

that both were axare of, and responded to, current events. For esample, in the second

half of the 1930s. a parallel concem esisted between the SCM and WCF for China and

3 9)." 103 Jirn Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, repon, 39 October 1937, [VA, box 3, file "Jirn Forrester, W. Canada."

i \hca. While scsi'en raised money for victims of oppression in China and listened to

talks on China. Ethiopia and South Afnca, 1vc~'ers listened ro missionary and

sociolo_oical reports from Afnca and heard about mission oppomuiities in China.

Obviousl>. the IWO groups differed over whether social or spiritual welfare was most

important: howevrr contact with social problems heightened the urgency of both

movements' campaigns.

Mso. SCM and WCF leaders emphasized the responsibility of individuals in the

evangelistic task. $CM concem for members personally to invite others to study groups

was not far removed from WCF conczm for 'friendlf evangelism. The difference

between personally convincing a student to become a Christian and drawing the student

into a contest in which Christ could be discovered \vas in the end a subtle one.

Morcovrr. the SCM'S attention to each student's "personal situation" and its belief in the

penasivr rzlevance of Christ to a11 facets of life were comparable to IVCF'S emphasis on

individual conversion and subrnission, or surrender. to Christ.

The connèction between the two lay in the fact that both the SCM and IVCF were

fiindamsntally interestrd in leading individuals io belief in Jesus Christ. For IVCF

rnembers this would be accomplished primarily through persona1 evangelism and

missions. both on campus and in foreign lands. Present Jesus to people, and the world

would br changed. they asserted. SCM members adopted a different method: through

informed social service they would create a healthier context in which people could

undersrand Jesus. As Phyllis Airhart has argued for Canadian Methodists of the sarly

twentieth century. focusing on "saving society" did not end concern for the "cure of

- -

I OJ Wilfisd F. Butcher to Emest Dale, 25 August 194 i , SCM UCA. box 84-1 1. file 1 .

~ o u l s . ' ' ' ~ ~ ï h e belief was that if people were given food and sheiter and clothinp. then

they would bt bener able to consider the claims of Jesus.

Both movements also ernphasized the development of Christian character arnong

members as an important and a necessary precursor to evangelism. For the scu. social

activism and the uitimate task of building the Kingdom of God blossomed out of a study

of Christianity - specifically of Jesus. the Bible, the church. missions. and the Christian

responsibility in regard to modem issues. Social gospel historian Richard Allen has ;one

so far as to argue that the study of Jesus' life, an emphasis which emerged in the 1910s.

was in itself a new form of e ~ a n ~ e ~ i s r n . ' ~ ~ In a similar way. KCF beliewd that successtiil

evangelistic endeavours resulted frorn the strengthening of students reiationships with

Christ through prayer and worship. Bible study. the reading of e\-angelical literature. and

fellowship with like-minded students.

Finally, the SCM and ~ V C F on occasion actually cooperated or at lsast attempted to

cooperate. At the University of Toronto in 1935. SCM and WCF srudents joined in

sponsoring and attending at l e s t two addresses. one on -'The Church in the World" and

one on the subject of rnedical mission^.'^' .And, though in the end unsuccessful. the s c ~

did seek the support of i v c ~ in its --Religion and Life Week" at C of T in 1939.'"

Certainly important differences between the evangelistic efforts of the SCM and

IVCF existed. The scxt approached Canadian students overwhclmingly through the

intellect, whereas IVCF stressed expenence. In cornparison with the SCN'S incisive

analysis of social, economic and political issues, IVCF appears to have been iargely

105 Airhan, Ssrving the Present .Ige, 125. Io6 Allen, Social Parsion, 2 19. 107 scxi list of activities, 1935-6, chi UTA. B79-0059, box 16, file "SCM student activities 1935-6." IO8 Repon of the Religion and Life Week cornmittee, [1939], SCM UA, B79-0059. box 23. file "SCM. U of

ignorant of the forces at work behind world events and social problerns. Altematively.

the scai's rephrasing of Christian pnnciples in modem language contrasted sharply rvith

the traditional Christian language expressed in IVCF circles.

But each rnovement formuiated clear plans by which it would spread the ideals of

Jesus Christ. Whether through soul-winning or through the social gospel, IVCF and the

SCM each aimed to apply Christian pnnciples to the ultimate salvation of the world. For

IVCF. the world u-ould be changed as individuals came to rccognize Jesus as rheir

Saviour. For the SCM. the process of transformation had a different point of departure.

namely the application of Jesus' teachings to the social, economic and political crises

k i n g modem society. Having probed many differences and similarities, a number of

conclusions arise.

T, Religion & Life Week 1939."

CoNCLuSION

Was the sc~i ' s and IVCF'S parallel presence on many Canadian campuses

evidsncs that modernist-hndarnentalist tensions extended into the 1930s? Could the schi

be best characterized as -rnodernist' and IVCF as 'fundarnentaIist'?

There certainly did exist key differences between the self-definition and activity

of thess student rnovernents; this suggests that a significant divide did separate them.

Their theologies espzcially diverged. The SCM sought God in the midst of modem

society and vicwd lesus as God's hurnan reflection. ~Moreover the SCM emphasized

lesus' reachings as holding solutions to the problems of the modem world: God's

kingdom on eanh would be established, it was hoped, through moral, social and

èconomic change.

The SCM'S leaders shapsd programme events around these convictions. They

plamcd study groups which would allow students to discover for themselves through the

highrr critical mcthod a Jesus hidden in the text of the Gospels: this discover' would in

turn facilitate discussion of how he was relevant to the solution of modem crises. In

othrr acrivities thsy sought to educate mernbers on the issues of the day. In addition they

offered practical opportunities for students to enact change, be it by feeding and clothing

Canada's unemployed, petitioning the government about military disarmament, or raising

funds for student victims of foreign wars. And, at varying levels throughout the 193Os,

services of worship and prayer, for the most part liturgical in nature, gave spiritual depth

to the rnovement's social gospel concerns.

IVCF, in contrast, emphasized the divine nature of Jesus and sought to promote an

understanding of him as Saviour or Lord of one's life. More important than Jesus'

humanity were the implications of his death for the sins of the world and his rising to life

again thereby bringing hope of eternal life. IKF further recognized the Bible as inspired

by God and. subsequently, as the authoritative religious source.

In practical form, ivcF leaders sought to nurture students' relationships wvith

Christ. For students who aiready claimed to be Christians. IVCF facilitated opponunitics

in which they could deepen their faith through Bible study, prayer and worship. .And out

of this spiritual deepening, it \vas believed, would corne a greater enthusiasm among

members to share their experience of Christ with othen. WCF'S programmc. then.

fostered this evangelistic process. Members were taught how best to witness to rheir

ftiends and were encouraged to support or to go on foreign missions.

A divide was also evident in the contrasting netwvorks of people and organizations

with which IVCF and the SCM associated. i VCF'S contacts were almost rsclusiw 1).

evangelical; that is, IVCF mbbed shoulders with those individuals and institutions holding

essentially the sarne beliefs as they did about God, Jesus, the Bible. and the importance of

evangelism. Representatives ofchurches and missionary organizations and evangelical

professors and entrepreneurs figured prorninently in ~VCF'S associations. Even so, rvc~

seemed somewhat protective of its identity through its avoidance of official connections

with other organizations. The scxr, however. freely engaged in a wide assortment of

contacts, both Christian and othenvise. To be sure, the sc ,~r ' s associations also ofien

follorved lines which buttressed rather than challenged its agenda: the movrment would

sooncr connect with student govemments, peace movements and liberal theologians than

wi th representatives of tradit ional Christianity . But overall the SCM ' s extemal

connections demonstrated more Iireadth than IVCF'S. This reflects the fact that the SCM

\vas closer to the 'ma ins t r eh of Canadian society and specifically of university life.

[ v u . intenr to promote an evangelical agenda, associated with like-minded individuals

and oroanizations - which. in the previous decades, had gradually been pushed to the

p s n p h e ~ of cultural influence.

And yet points of contact which existed behveen the SCM and IVCF suggest that

the divide was not as great as it might appear to some. Both movernents perceived their

historical roots to be planted in evangelicalism, specifically in the revivais and

evangelistic movements among students on both sides of the Atlantic in the late

nineteenth centuq. And both maintained vestiges of this evangelicalism. Both

movrmcnts shared associations with churches and the YM/YWCA'S. They also shared.

with some methodological differences, an emphasis on the study of the Bible and on the

practice of Christian drvotion. Ultimately, these two Christian movements aimed

essentially to broaden students' understandings of who Jesus was and to translate this into

practical ways in which Jesus continued to be relevant to life in the twentieth-century

world. In this the SCM and IVCF carried fonvard the evangelistic enthusiasm which had

characrerized Christian student groups decades earlier.

Another cornmon element was the posture that the SCM and IVCF maintained

towards society and towards the church. Both identified themselves as mediators

bet~veen on one hand, a growing secularism characterized by irreligion and materialism.

and on the other hand, Protestant churches characterized by rnediocre faith and

do_matism. Their responses differed. The SCM grappled intellectuaily with secular

issues whereas [\'CF fought secularism through the promotion of Christian piety. IYCF

sought to transform rhe perceived abstract and cold doctrines of the church into vibrant.

comrnined Christian living, whereas the SCM attempted to replace the old with a more

culturally relevant and socially concemed Christianity. But essentially the two

movements hune together in the balance between the two worlds of church and society:

both w r e intent to maintain a strong religious presence in the midst of growing

secularism and to renew Canada's Protestant churches through Christian activism.

Notwithstanding thzse similarities, they for the most part avoided any real

partnership on Canadian campuses. The SCM and ~ V C F were not often able ro recognize

the ground the? shared. scbi'ers, perhaps protective of what they saw as their rightful

place as the religious voice in Canada's universities and colleges' on occasion described

WCF as fundamentalist and enthusiast, as representative of the outrnoded and anti-

intellcctual nineteenth-century onhodosy against which the scsr was reacting. and the?

failed ro ser what was fresh about WCF'S approach to students. Reciprocally. 1vC~'ers

equated the schr with modernism and even atheism and overlooked the inherited

evanpslistic zeal and the insightful thinking which the SCM applied practically to social

issues.

If a 'great divide' existed, then, it was as a mental constmct which shaped the two

movernents' opinions about each other. But the presence of significant cornmon ground

and the fact that on occasion the SChf and IVCF attempted to cooperate indicate that the

dividc was not as impassable as it may have seemed. Moreover, the formation of IVCF

should br seen not so much as a direct contest with the SCM but rather as a choice by

students to focus on the devotionai aspects of Christianity over the intellecrual.

Interestingly, as Canadian student attitudes became more consemative with the

graduation of war veterans and the onset of the ~ e ~ r e s s i 0 n . l the scsi opened its

promarnrne Ci more to traditional Christian elements while still hoping to preserve the

radical social Christianity which had characterized the rnovement in the 1920s. Other

students, some of them with former SCM roots. decided to apply rhemselves more

specifically to the fostenng of a traditional );et vital Christianity nithin rvcF. Thar ivc~

emerged in Canada precisely at a tirne when the schi was begiming to show a grsater

interest in traditional religious practice cautions against a chanctèrization of thesc

rnovements as fundamentally opposed to each other.

Indeed. one conclusion of this study is that these movements are not easily

pigeon-holed as either fundamentalist or rnodemist. Certainly these categories applied to

elements within WCF and the SCM. respectively. But both rnovrments found some

success in attracting an interdenominational and theologically variegated msmbership. a

point that more general histories have rightly noted. The testirnonies of former scli'ers

agree ~vith Paul Axelrod's observation that the scei was cornposed of a \vide spectrum of

socialist radicals and Christians seeking to integrate their beliefs and social reform.' In a

sirnilar fashion IVCF was. as John Stackhouse has suggested. a meeting-place for

Christians from mainline and more sectarian conservative churchss and those tvith Little

church experience.' In addition, Canada's geographic espanse and the fast thai the

student body changed from year to year resulted in considerable variety bctween regions.

Axelrod. ,\Ming a Middle Clars, 98; Kirkey, '*Dedine of Radical Liberal Protcstantism." 26-17, 29; Gidney, "Poisonin: the Student Mind?" 8- 1 1 .

Axelrod. Making a Middle Class. 130. ' Stackhouse. Canodian Evangelicalisnr. 90.

Sorne SCM units. such as those in Saskatoon and Guelph, contained higher percentages of

evangelical students than othen. In IVCF'S western n i t s fimdamentalists were more

prominent than in Ontario and ~ontreal ."

Rather than pigeon-holing the two movements with the ternis 'fundamentalist'

and -modemist'. the SCM and WCF could be better descnbed. using Grant ivacker's

revisionist analog. mentioned in the introduction. as xhildren' of the mainstrearn

Protestant consensus of the late nineteenth century? Together these siblings sought to

countsr lifeless religion and to articulate their respective renewals of Christianity to

students and to secular society in general. Both, in tum, cm be viewed as making a

depamire of sorts frorn the parent nineteenth-century evangelicalism: the SCM rejected its

theology and redressed traditional practices such as prayer, Bible study and evangelism.

and KCF considered the traditionai evangelical legacy to be in dire need of revitalization.

In their theologies and to a lesser extent in their practices the SCM and WCF xere rivals.

but both nonetheless bore resemblance to their forebears and to each other. .At certain

moments they crossed paths. and either called each other derogatory narnes or attempted

cooperation: both foms of interaction, one negative and one positive, demonstrated their

relatedness. But outside of these times the two siblings kept to themselves. content to

\ive out their beliefs within the sarne physical context but in relative isolation.

From Our 01vn vantage point of the Iast few years of the twentieth cenrury, at a

' On the SCu's regional variance. see lim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, reports, 30 December 1937 and Z March 1938, iv.4, box 5, file "Jim Forrester, W. Canada," and Belva Atkinson, report, 23' February 1939. {VA, box 4. file "Correspondence: Belva Atkinson (Ontario) 1938-39." On IVCF, see C. Sracey Woods to Ross Young,, 6 November 1936, IVA, box 1 , file "History ofthe IW in Canada (193 1-36)"; C. Stacey Woods to Cathie Nicolt. 1 1 November 1937, [VA, box 3, file "Cathie Nicoll, Winnipeg"; Jim Forrester to C. Stacey Woods, 28 Januaiy 1938, IVA, box 3, file "h Forrester, W. Canada"; Cathie Nicoll to C. Stacey Woods. report, 3 blarch 1938, [VA, bos 3, file "Cathie Nicoll, Winnipeg." Paul Axelrod notes that, generally speaking, campuses in western Canada tended to be "more informal" than those in the East. which m a i have catered to evangelical practices. Axelrod, Making a Middle Class, 164.

tirne whcn the post-modem perspective has begun to create a new- appreciation for

viewiq religion as important in its own right,6 this backward glance at student religion in

the 1930s raises questions about the process of secularization in Canada. The fact that

the church-sponsored religious activities led by the Y W Y W C A ~ and the religious

curriculum of colleges and universitirs disintegrated in the early decades of the twentieth

centun. does indicats ihat higher education experienced a degree of secularization. The

modernization of higher education shified the impetus of Christian concem to a lsvel

which operated outside the immediate control of university and church leaders; in terms

of studenr activity. rhis change made Christianity one option arnong man). But did this

comspondingly indicate that. to echo sociologist David Lyon's question. -religion was a

shrinking. col lapsing or dying p henomenon," an "epi phenornenon of othcr social

processss"?7 On the contrary, as this study dernonstrates, under the guises of the scxi and

IVCF Christian belirfs and practices persevered and even flourished among the student

population. Although both of these movements sought to consene aspects of

Christianity in the face of secularism. they also sought to be innovative and held positive

religious convictions that were not simply defined by estemal, hostile forces. Indeed, in

the 1990s many have realized that, in the midst of modem Canadian society. religion is

still very much present.s IVCF and the SCM are part of this continued presence. KCF

established itself more strongly afier World War Two and has for decades been one of the

largest religious groups on Canadian campuses; today it is active in 48 universities and 13

-- -

' Wackcr. ..Holy Spirit." 60. 6 David Lyon. "Religion and the Postmodern: Old Problems, New Prospects," in P ostmodernih Socioios)' and Religion, ed. Kieran Flanagan and Peter C. Jupp (Houndmills and London: Macmillan Press Ltd.; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996), 25. 7 Ibid.. 16. S See. for esample, the Angus-Reid poll results in "God is Alive," Maclean 's. 12 April 1993. and George Rawl'k's subsequent analysis in Is Jesu Yonr Personai Saviour?

c01le~es.~ The SCM, which undenvent a period of decline from the 1950s onward. has in

recent px.rs made a corneback. especially in western Canada, and is currently active on

1 j carnpuses. I o

In the final analysis. it is evident that Protestant Chnstianity maintained an

important voice on Canadian carnpuses houghout the 1930s. Moreover. a comparison

of the scxi's and IVCF'S self-definitions and practices suggesu that rhese Canadian

Protestants were closer together than has been portrayed. In the midst of an up-and-

coming generation of Canadians. both the SCM and [VCF promored thsir visions of God

and the world. Two siblings. inheritors of an evangelical Protestantism. each attemptcd

to bnng the principles of Christianity to bcar upon personal and public life on university

and collsge campuses. and in so doing assefied their conviction that Chrisrianit' \vas to

remain a vital force in twrntieth-century Canadian socicty.

9 Other fields of Inter-Varsis activity are its high school work, Inter-School Christian Frllowship (ISCF), active in 175 high schools, and its 5 regional "Pioneer" camping programs. Rob Regier [Communications coordinator, IVCF national office], tejephone interview by author, 9 March 1998. 1 O Rick Gartand [scxr national coordinator], telephone interview by author, 13 hlarch 1998. and Rob Shearer [University of Toronto SCM coordinator], telephone interview by author. 10 February 1998.

Primary Sources:

inter-Vanity Christian Fellowship National Office, Richmond Hill, Ontario. hter- Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada Papers. IVCF of Canada Constitution: Board of Directors Minutes, 1935-39; Executive Comrnittee of the Board Minutes. 1936-39: Howard Guinness diary, November 1978 - ;Ma)- 192% F. 'los1 Palmer Papers. 193 I : newspaper clippings; staff correspondence and reports: rerniniscences; interview transcripts; pamphlets; newsleners; miscellaneous materials.

United Church of CanadaNictoria University Archives, Toronto, Ontario. Inter-Church Collections: Student Chnstian Movement of Canada Papers. Series 84. SC.\! of Canada Constitution; National Council (General Cornmittee) Minutes. 192% 193 8: Yational Executive Cornminee vinu ut es, 1929- 1939; staff correspondence and reports; reminiscences; brochures; Henry Burton S h m a n files; University of British Columbia Song Book; miscellaneous materials.

University of Toronto Archives, Toronto, Ontario. University of Toronto I b r s i ~ microfilm. S tudent Christian Movement (University of Toronto) Papers. Accession no. B79-0059. News bulletins; newspaper clippings; programme lists; reports: miscellaneous materials.

"United Bible Study: A Course of Nine Studies for Bible Study Circles." 0 1 1 Ed. Rev. H.E. Guillebaud. London: The Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1939. Possession of the author.

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Beaaie, Margaret et al. d Brief History of the Sludent Christian Movernent in Canadlï, 1921-1 974. Toronto: Student Christian Movement, 1975.

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Bruce. Stsve. Firm in the Faith. Aldershot. England: Gower Publishing Co.. 1984.

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Dale. Emest A. Tiieen'l-Otie Yenrs A- Building: A Short Accocrnr of the Sritdenr Chrisriun .tlui.errzenf ofCanada, 1920- 19-11. Toronto: Student Christian blovsment. 194 1 .

Donald. Melvin V. .4 Spreading Tree: A History of Mer- Varsity Chrisriml Felloiid~ip of Ctrnudcr. 1928-29 to 1988-89. Richmond Hill, O N : Inter-Varsity Christian Fsilowship. 199 1.

Gauvrsau, blic hael. The Ei~angrlical Cenr1rr-y.- College and Creed in Engiish Crinada ji-om the Grenr Revivnl to the Grenr Depression. Montreal and Kin, oston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 199 1.

Gauvrsau. M ic hael. and Nancy Christie. A Full-Orbed Christianiiy: The Protesrrrnr Cliiirchrs ctnd Social lVelfnre in Canada. 1900- 1940. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996.

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Guinness, Howard W. Sacrifice: A Challenge to Christian Y m h . London: Inter- Varsity Fellowship, 1936.

Hunt. Keith and Gladys Hunt. For Christ and the Universiv: The Story of Inter Varsiîy Christian Felloivship of the CI.SAA./1940-199. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter- Varsity Press, 199 1.

Hutchison. Wi I l iam R. Errand tu the CVorld: Americon Protestant Thotrght ond Foreign Slissions. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. 1 987.

. The Modernist Impulse in Arnerican Protestanrism. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992.

Hylson-Smith, Kenneth. Evangelicals in rhe Church of England, 1 734-1 984. Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark. 1988.

Johnson. Douglas. Contending for the Faith: A Histon of the Evangelicnl .blovemenr in rhe hiversifies and Coileges. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsih Press. 1979.

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Scott. R.B.Y .. and Gregory Vlastos, eds. Toivara's the Christian Revolution. N.p.: Willett Clark & Co.. 1936. Reprint. Kingston: Ronald P. Frye & Co.. 1989.

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Inrernntionol Order. 1 9 18- 1939. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. 1993.

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ARTICLES:

Airhan. Phyllis D. "Christian Socialism and the Legacy Of Revivalism in the 1930's.'' In A Long and Faithfirl Marchi 'Towards the Christian Revolution. ' 1930s/1980s, ed. Roger Hutchinson and Harold Wells, 30-40. N p . : The United Church Publishing House, 1989.

. "Ordering a New Nation and Reordering Protestantism. 1867- 19 14." In The Cnnadian Proresrnnr Experience. 1760 to 1990. ed. George A. Rau-lyk. 98- l3S. Monrreal and Kingston: hlcGill-Queen's University Press, 1990.

Austin. Ahyn J. --The Transplanted Mission: The China Inland Mission and Canadian Evangelical km." In Aspeco of rhe Canadiun Evungelical E-rperience. ed. George .A. Rawlyk. 35 1-368. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's Universin; Press. 1997.

Burkinshaw. Robert K. *oEvangelical Bible Colleges in Twentieth-Centuv Canada." In -4specfs of the Cnnadian Evangelical Experiemr, ed. George A. Rawlyk. 369-384. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997.

Hindmarsh. D. Bruce. -'The Winnipeg Fundamentalist Network, 19 10- 19-10: The Roots of Transdenominationai Evangelicalism in .Manitoba and Saskatchewan." In .-lspecfs of the Cnnadian Evangelical Erperience, ed. George A. Rawlyk. 303-3 19. Montreal and Kingston: iMcGiIl-Queen's University Press, 1997.

Katsrbsrg. William H. -'Redefining Evangelicalism in the Canadian Anglican Church: Wycliffe College and the Evangelical Party, 1867- 1995." In Aspeczs of rhe Canadinn Evongeiical Ekperience. ed. George A. Rawlyk, 1 7 1 - 1 8 8. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997.

Lyon. David. "Religion and the Postmodern: Old Problems, New Prospects.'' In Postmoderniry. Socioiugy and Religion, ed. Kieran Flanagan and Petrr C. Jupp. 14-29. Houndmills and London: iMacmillan Press; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.

blarsden. George M. "Unity and D iversi ty in the Evangelical Resurgence." In .4 lrered Lnndscnpes: Christianity in Americrr, 1935-1985, ed. David W. Lotz et all 6 1-76. Grand Rapids. MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989.

McGuire King. Wlliam. --An Enthusiasm for Humanity: The Social Emphasis in Religion and its Accommodation in Protestant Theology." In Religion and Twenrirrh-Cenfzrry American Intellecttral Life, ed. Michael J. Lace!, 49-77. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1989.

Ostrander. Richard. "The Battery and the Windmill: Two Models of Protestant Devotionalism in Early-Twentieth-Century America." Church Hisrory (March 1996): 42-6 1.

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Erperience. ed. George A. Rawlyk. 106- 122. Monneal and Kingston: McGill- Queen's University Press, 1997.

Rawlyk. George A. "A.L. McCrirnmon. H.P. Whidden? T.T. Shields. Christian Education. and McMaster University." In Canadian Baptists and Cliristim Higher Edication, ed. George A. Rawlyk. 3 1-62. Montreal and Kin, oston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1988.

Wacker. Grant. "The Holy Spirit and the Spint of the Age in -4merican Protestanrism, 1880- 19 10." Journal ofArnerican History 72. no. 1 ( 1985): 45-62.

Wright. Robert A. "The Canadian Protestant Tradition 1 9 14- 19-15." In The Cuncin'init Protesrnnr Ekperience. 1760 ro 1990. ed. George .A. Rawl!k. 1 39- 197. hfontreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990.

THESES, PAPERS, MANUSCRIPTS AND NTERVIECVS:

Austin. Ahyn J. "'The Great Design': A History of Ontario Bible College." hlanuscript in possession of the author.

Douglas. Peter. "A Family Photo of the United Church of Canada. Winnipeg. 1930." M.S.T. thesis. University of Winnipeg, 1990.

Garland. Rick [SCM national coordinator]. Telephone interview by the aurhor. 12 Xlarch 1998.

Gidney. Catherine A. "'Poisoning the Student blind'? The Srudrnt Christian Mo\.ement at the University of Toronto. 1970- 1965.'' Paper presrntrd to the Canadian Historical Association. June 1 997.

Hutchinson, Roger Charles. "The Fellowship for a Christian Social Ordrr: .-\ Social Ethical Analysis of a Christian Socialist iMovement.'- Ph.D. d i s . . l'ictoria University, 1 975.

Kirkey. Donald L.. Jr. '-'Building the City of God': The Founding of the Student Christian ~Movement of Canada." M.A. thesis, MciMaster Universi-. 1983.

. '-The Decline of Radical Liberal Protestantism: The Case of the Student Christian Movement of Canada." Paper presented to the Canadian Historical Associationt June 1988.

Phillips, David. 'The History of the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Western Canada." M.C.S. thesis, Regent College, 1976.

Regier. Rob [communications coordinator. L'CF national office]. Telephone inten-iew by the author. 9 March 1998.

Shearer. Rob [University of Toronto scxr coordinator]. Telephone intenien- by the author. 10 February 1998.

Troutman, Charles. "Backgrounds of Evangelical University Wi tness in die United States." 1 June 1965. Manuscript in possession of the author.

Vipond. Reid E. "Sorne Reflections on The Student Christian Movement ~t Queen's University, 1933- 1939." 199 1. Ms. File "scer letters." W. Bentley Macleod Fonds. .\..ARCH 1303.15. Queen's University Archives. Kingston. Ontario.

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